


Culture Shock

by CanuckleheadCowgirl, magnetocerebro



Series: 664 Marvel Universe [1]
Category: X-Men (Comicverse), Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Jubinoh is the fluffiest fluff, Noh-Varr needs some happiness okay?, X-Men in SPACE!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-05-08 17:43:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 44,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14699166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanuckleheadCowgirl/pseuds/CanuckleheadCowgirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetocerebro/pseuds/magnetocerebro
Summary: Noh-Varr has only just arrived in this universe, and it has NOT made a good impression. He was only in this universe for a few moments before his craft was shot down by the greedy Midas Corporation. And then he was taken captive.But before Noh can be dissected, the Midas Corporation has to face the X-Men.The good ship Marvel sent out a distress call that reached the Phoenix, and with Jean leading the way, the X-Men aren't about to let an alien in distress get torn apart.In fact, they just might adopt him if they get half a chance...





	1. Culture Shock

**Author's Note:**

> Oh look, another universe! Haha. This one is the 664 universe, and in keeping with the theme of several of our most recent universes, we've decided to give one of the characters we love a better start at this world.
> 
> This time, that character is Noh-Varr.
> 
> A couple notes here: We are, in fact, using Canucklehead Cowgirl's character from her 906 universe, K, though she's already in the X-Men. And this starts from Noh-Varr's first introduction to Earth. It... was not a good one.
> 
> Hopefully, this will change that.

 

* * *

Noh-Varr could remember an explosion and not much else before he found himself in this strange prison.

He was completely encased in a yellow bubble, some kind of localized field that was forcing his arms behind him at an unnatural anglem away from the aliens in long, white clothing observing his every move. One of the aliens hit a button on a speaker to call for someone outside of the room, but it was a dialect Noh didn't recognize.

There was so, so much he didn't recognize about this place.

The technology was strange. Slow. Nothing like what he was used to. On his ship, the very walls would  _breathe_ , but here, everything was muted. Lifeless. Even the bubble that he was encased in, which was slightly advanced enough that it could read his brain waves, was static, quiet. It all seemed so impersonal.

He'd barely had the thought before an arc of electricity traveled through his entire body. He hadn't been expecting it, so he gasped in surprise and pain for only an instant before he decided to simply reroute everything to his audio cortex for the foreseeable future.

After all, he was sure he had just discovered the reason the technology around him seemed impersonal. It would have to be, or it would risk feeling his pain as well.

Another arc passed through him — he didn't know why. Not one of the aliens in long white clothing were attempting to ask him anything, and there seemed to be no point to it. There was no observation, just sneers. Which seemed incredibly pointless to Noh. If there was going to be torture, there should be a point to it.

Or did these creatures not understand basic scientific observation?

Then again, Noh had no idea where he was. It was possible that he was on some backwards planet where this kind of thing was commonplace. He'd read about the Shi'ar Empire before his people had wiped them out, though the lack of feathers indicated that this wasn't them. No green skin, so they weren't Skrulls….

Noh couldn't remember any species of significance that looked like this. At least not in his reality. Not any species of significance, anyway. But then again, this wasn't his reality anymore. It was possible some primitive species that hadn't been tamed by the Kree still thrived in some backwards corner reality...

Still, whoever these aliens were, they had no idea who they were dealing with. He was Kree; he was created and designed specifically to further the aims of the Empire. The moment he got free, he would destroy this place and find the omega frequency, even if he had to cobble something together from this primitive, quiet equipment. He would contact the Empire in this reality, and together, they would raze the whole planet for the insult.

The Kree did not take insults lying down.

Noh was just considering the best way to destroy this place — should he tear down the walls with his bare hands or should he simply detonate everything he could get his hands on? — when a new player entered the scene.

The alien wasn't quite as tall as some of the others in long white coats, but it was obvious the others deferred to him from their body language alone. He wore gold rather than the white the others did, and he wore a mask that covered everything but his eyes and mouth. It seemed unnecessarily bulky and clearly didn't offer the man a full range of vision.

Inefficient, just like everything else Noh had seen since waking up from the explosion.

The alien in gold was the first to address Noh directly, speaking in a language Noh didn't understand, though the tone was clear enough to decipher. He was smug. He was triumphant. Whatever this man's game was, he clearly felt that he had accomplished it.

The man continued on and on, but it was his tone, echoing in that metallic helmet, that ultimately decided it for Noh. He spit at the man, aiming for the slit in his helmet, but unfortunately, his hallucinogenic substance didn't make it through the metal.

 _Next time_ , Noh thought, watching the man as the aliens in white rushed to collect his saliva from the helmet. The care with which they were handling it indicated that they might be scientists, or at least have some modicum of sense when it came to dealing with biohazards. He didn't want to ascribe intelligence to these primitive aliens just yet, though he could certainly ascribe cruelty to them, as the man in gold had hardly turned away before another arc traveled through his body.

His muscles seized, but he had already rerouted everything. Whatever they were after, he was not going to give them any more satisfaction than their smug gloating at having captured him in the first place gave them.

But how to get out of this situation… now  _that_ was a quandary all on its own.

* * *

What Noh-Varr didn't know — because he had been unconscious and badly injured at the time — was that when his exploratory craft was shot down, the Plex consciousness — a smaller version of what was known in this universe as the Supreme Intelligence, though much less powerful and designed as part of individual ships to facilitate a hive mind to run the imagination engines — had reached out in a desperate plea, across all frequencies and telepathic pathways.

_Help us. We are dying._

The ship went down in New Jersey, and the Midas Corporation — the people who had shot it out of the sky and who were already moving to recover the technology on board in order to sell it and use its secrets to make new technology on Earth — was already salvaging what they could. The ship had been badly damaged enough that the Plex consciousness was dead, that last cry for help the only thing it managed before the ship went down, though the ship itself was fighting back against the salvage crew, putting out cosmic radiation that was sure to kill anyone who got close. Still, the ship was dying, too, and even those outbursts were growing fewer and further between.

The truth of the matter was that the message was a long shot. Earth didn't have the right technology to catch the message… and the only reason an interdimensional cry for help was even  _heard_ was that it managed to reach Jean Gray in the Xavier Institute.

It was the middle of the night in Westchester, and the team was fairly worn out after a fight with the Brotherhood. Jean and Scott both were dead to the world asleep, her head on his chest until she heard the telepathic cry and jerked awake, the desperate words rattling around in her head.

It was enough to stir her sleeping husband, and he blearily sat up, frowning when he saw that she was breathing hard. It had been an  _intense_ cry from a dying people, carrying with it the final fears of an entire ship full of people, and she was shaking slightly. It was a lot for one person to take — the message had been meant to reach a hive mind, not a single one, after all.

"Jean?" Scott asked, frowning, his hands on her shoulders. "Jean, what's wrong?"

She took a deep and steadying breath as she turned to face Scott. "Someone's calling for help," she explained, reaching out to his mind with hers almost automatically, letting him hear — but not fully  _experience_  — the message.

"It's not much to go on," he said, though he was already pushing back the covers to get out of bed and get changed.

"No," she agreed. "But I think I at least have a location."

"Alright. I'll get the team together," Scott said, though Jean couldn't help but smirk when she caught his thoughts about what a pain it was going to be to wake up some of their teammates, considering the fact that they hadn't been asleep for very long.

_I think you're a little off, Scott._

_On what?_ he asked as he pulled the uniform on.

_Jubilee will be the hardest to wake up._

Scott paused, smirked, and shook his head at her.  _I was thinking I'd let her sleep in. We don't know anything about whoever was calling for help. It would probably be better if we didn't bring her or Kitty._

_You know she hates being left behind, right?_

_Jean, I don't need to be a telepath to know that,_ Scott said, then pulled her to her feet and kissed her quickly before he headed out the door. "I'll get everyone up. Meet you at the blackbird."

Jean smiled his way as he rushed down the hall to wake up the other X-Men before she turned her attention back to the message she'd received. It had a location in the undercurrent of the message, but when Jean tried to reach out to whoever it was that had been in such distress and pain, she couldn't seem to find the source of the message.

She didn't know if that meant they were too far away or if it was something else entirely — and considering how much pain she had felt from the message, she was worried that they were already too late.

She had just changed into her uniform and was partway down the hallway when Charles Xavier rounded the corner as well, frowning thoughtfully.

"You heard it too?" Jean asked.

"Some of it," Charles admitted. "But clearly not all of what you did."

Jean let out a sigh that dropped her shoulders. "Whoever sent it…"

"Yes," Charles agreed before she had even finished the sentiment. "I'd suggest rushing things along."

"I haven't been able to sense anything from them since," Jean admitted.

"Nor have I," Charles agreed. "But I'll monitor things here. Perhaps they will reach out again."

Jean smiled at him and nodded before she hurried past him to meet up with the rest of the team. She was one of the last to arrive, with Remy bringing up the rear and still pulling on his coat. Jean could tell just from the fact that Scott's ears were still slightly red and his thoughts were along the lines of 'bad timing' that he'd  _interrupted_ Logan and K, though neither of them were giving anything away. And Kurt still looked a bit bedheaded, his fur sticking up in a few places — though Ororo looked as serene and regal as ever. And, Jean was glad to see, Kitty and Jubilee were there too — though both of them looked like they were still asleep, Kitty leaning on Piotr's shoulder with her eyes only partly open.

Scott filled them in on the blackbird, picking up Jean's push to get moving. There wasn't much to tell them, anyway, other than that there was a cry for help and that there was every possibility whoever had done it was dead, considering what Jean had sensed in the message. But they were going to find any survivors if they could, or they were going to figure out what had killed them.

Though… that question was fairly quickly answered when the blackbird set down and they saw the salvage crew tearing apart what was clearly a crashed alien craft. It wasn't like anything they had ever seen before, not like any of the other alien tech they'd ever encountered, and Jean stopped short when they got a bit closer to it, her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted.

"It's … alive," she said, staring at the ship. She could  _sense_ the ship's reactions, all pain and terror and not much independent thought. But she couldn't sense anyone besides the ship.

"You think the  _ship_ sent a call for help?" Scott asked, eyebrows high.

She shook her head. "No, it's not the same… it's alive, but it doesn't have a telepathic awareness."

"Wouldn't have much of one if it was dying," K pointed out.

There was a beat of silence as Jean considered it before she shook her head. "No, the message came from someone — or something — else. I'm sure of it." She reached out a hand to help to direct her telepathic search, scanning the minds of the salvage crew as well… and what she found there had her eyes flying open.

"There was a survivor, but they took him away from here. This is just the clean-up crew."

"Then we're wastin' our time here," Logan growled out, though the words were no sooner out of his mouth before the crashed alien craft seemed to glow with energy.

"Look out!" Scott shouted, though he and Logan wouldn't have been able to clear the blast that followed if it hadn't been for Kurt teleporting them out of there.

The X-Men watched, wide-eyed, as the ship emitted a burst of cosmic radiation. It killed five members of the salvage team instantly, but the rest were at the very least comatose, if not dying. One member of the team managed to remain conscious long enough that he got to a communications device to call for help, but he passed out before he could get much past a report of what had happened.

The team had managed to clear the blast radius, though, and Jubilee turned to look at the others, dropping her chin a bit to look at the ship. "Looks like she can handle herself just fine to me. Not much of a damsel in distress, right?"

"No, but it could have been the survivors that I heard calling for help," Jean said.

"Do you have a location?" Scott asked.

Jean nodded. "Not too far from here."

"Alright," Scott nodded. "Let's head out."

The X-Men followed Jean's lead — she was the one who had plucked the location out of the salvage crew's minds, after all — until they came to a large sort of complex that practically screamed evil lair. It was far removed from any other buildings that size, and it had plenty of guards patrolling the place, not even pretending they weren't guarding the building.

"Can you sense any of the survivors?" Scott asked as the team fell into place, ready to burst into the building to bust up whatever was going on here.

Jean put a hand to her head, but ultimately, she let out a sigh and shook her head. "Something's blocking me," she admitted.

Scott nodded her way once before he turned to the team. "Shadowcat, Wolverine — we need eyes inside the place so we have a better idea of what's going on. If you happen to find any survivors, send us your coordinates, and we'll come in after you, but I'm more interested in finding out  _what_ this place is. K, Gambit, Storm — we need to take those guards out without anyone noticing. Nightcrawler, you're with me and Jean looking for the crew of that ship. Jean's right — they're probably the ones who called for help."

"What about me?" Jubilee asked.

Scott frowned her way. "I need you to stay with—"

"No way!" She drew herself up a bit taller and put her finger in Scott's chest. "I can help!"

"I know you can, but you saw what they were doing to the alien ship."

"So I'm  _babysitting_ the blackbird?"

"Jubilee, we don't have time—"

"I want to help find whoever's in trouble!"

Scott shook his head. "Stay here, Jubilee," he told her before he ducked out, headed off with Kurt and Jean.

Jubilee crossed her arms and pouted for a long moment, her arms crossed over her chest and her feet kicked up, already planning out how she'd slip out the second the fight broke out. She couldn't follow Kitty and Logan through the walls, but she could  _so_ help with taking out the big, creepy guards…..


	2. Language Barrier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the X-Men rescue a strange alien boy. But talking to him is harder than they expected it would be.

 

* * *

 

The further Kitty and Logan got into the facility, the stranger things seemed to get. The place was almost like a museum of odd bits and pieces of alien technology, and other… alien… things. It almost looked like there were  _trophies_ of different aliens that had been through the place. Helmets, weapons, communication devices. All of them had belonged to some alien or another that this place had captured.

And the whole time they walked through the creepy halls,Kitty was watching Logan out of the corner of her gaze as he tried unsuccessfully to rein in the growl. Not only did this place have bits and pieces of technology from various alien civilization, but there was a lab setup, complete with examination tables, and it was pretty obvious that there were bits of aliens in some of the jars...

Kitty couldn't help but shudder at a lot of what they were seeing. She had heard stories from when the X-Men went after the department that had given K and Logan their metal — that was how K joined the team, after all. So she knew exactly why Logan was growling, but that just had her even more worried about what exactly the team was walking into. If it was another place like the Weapon X program…

She was biting down on her bottom lip hard as she followed Logan through the place, though when they ended up in a darkly lit room with a whole lot of people in white lab coats, they were sure they'd hit the jackpot.

They didn't say a word between them as they crept closer, though they shared a look when they got close enough to see that one of the glowing yellow bubble things was occupied. They'd clearly found at least one survivor.

The young man in the bubble was maybe sixteen or seventeen; he couldn't have been much older than Jubilee, at any rate, though it was kind of hard to tell that kind of thing with aliens. He was suspended in the bubble with his arms drawn out back and to the sides, barefooted and stripped of everything but a green and white uniform.

And as Kitty and Logan watched, a man in a gold helmet and golden armor, flanked by people in lab coats, strolled up to the young man in the bubble, and they could already tell that it was going to be one of those villainous gloats from the way he was holding himself.

"Look at it this way," the gold-helmeted man was telling the suspended alien. "None of this is real. Your pain is not real, not officially real. Your fear and confusion are not officially real. This building does not exist. Officially, I do not exist." He chuckled darkly. "Therefore, you do not exist. Logic at work."

"I can do anything to you," the man continued as the boy in the bubble glared at him. "You have no advocate here, no one to bargain for your release."

Kitty watched Logan, recognizing the way his muscles had tensed and his hands had flexed. He was ready to tear this guy apart, to destroy the lab full of alien bodies and technology — so Kitty was the one to very quietly step back to get on the comm to let the others know what they had found.

Logan stayed behind as the guy in gold continued to monologue to the trapped alien kid. He didn't like a word he was hearing as the man went on and on about how he was so right and important — and it had him a step away from simply jumping in to tear every lab coat apart. And then he'd work on the guy in charge.

"You," the man told the alien as Logan watched through narrowed eyes, "are nothing. You are salvage, the flotsam of the void. The property of the Midas Foundation.  _My_ property."

Kitty had just stepped back through the wall and nodded to Logan when the alien in the bubble spit at the man in gold — because the guy so clearly deserved it. The lab-coated scientists rushed forward to analyze it as the boy's lips pulled back in a sneer, but he didn't actually say anything.

Logan was already riled by the whole property speech, but what this Midas guy said next sealed the deal that he was going to kill him as he promised to take the alien boy apart.

"I can swear in several interstellar languages and sub-dialects: Kree, Baddoon, Skrull. It's so…  _revealing,_ what they come out with on the dissection tables," Midas bragged, already turning away. Even as he walked toward the exit, he went on and on about how they'd take the alien boy apart and sell every piece of him to alien connoisseurs, as an arc of electricity passed through the alien.

Logan finally popped onto the comm as he moved into position, every muscle tensed and ready to spring. "Okay. I can take this loser out real quick-like. Won't even need three holes for as wide as he's got his mouth flappin'." He paused and shifted slightly over so he was ready to dart in. "So unless you want him for questioning … I'm just gonna put another hole in his head."

"Logan, wait, we can be there in a second."

"Yeah, but I don't think you want to  _talk_ to this guy, Slim." Every word was laced with a low growl, completely emphasizing how ticked off he was already.

There was an actually significant pause before Scott replied, "What's the story here, Wolverine?"

"Just what you're hopin' not to find. Guy thinks he's got a claim to  _ownership_. Makin' me a lil' bit stabbier than I was an hour ago."

"Right," Scott said, and Logan knew he didn't like the answer — especially because it wasn't helpful to Scott's reminders that  _X-Men don't kill._ "Just focus on the survivor first. This is a rescue mission."

"Fine," Logan replied. "Just … be sure the outer perimeter crowd knows there's a raving jackass wearing a lot of gold that could use a little extra ventilation in his melon."

He'd barely sent the message before there was a telltale  _bamf,_ and Kurt appeared with Scott and Jean to help with the rescue. Clearly, Scott was tense enough that he thought he needed to step in.

Not that it was going to stop Logan. As soon as he heard the sound of the teleport, he rushed forward, sure that Scott could cover the other side of things from a distance, and honestly ready to just tear into the creep. The gold-covered lunatic barely seemed to notice the muted  _bamf,_ but the flash of yellow headed his way and the glint of silver was a little more pressing as Logan pounced and made contact claws first, slicing through the golden armor like butter.

Which left an opening for the other X-Men to get moving. Jean threw aside half of the technicians and started to search for other survivors, while Scott blasted through the controls for the containment unit holding up the white-haired alien. The boy dropped to his bare feet and narrowed his eyes at the X-Men, then simply shot past them faster than any of them could talk to him — and a short moment later, there was an echoing explosion further down the hall where the labs had been.

"So much for stealthy," Kitty said with a smirk that got even wider when there was another explosion that shook the building and opened up part of the wall to the outside, where they could hear the telltale screaming sounds of Jubilee's plasmoids.

"Nightcrawler, see if you can catch up to that kid," Scott told Kurt. "Before he brings the building down on us."

"Of course," Kurt said, teleporting down the hall in an instant.

It was easy enough to follow the path of destruction, too — Kurt just had to see the rubble and the places where it looked like someone had torn walls and doors apart indiscriminately in order to catch up to the white-haired young man. And when he did, the young alien had just closed the door to a room and held it shut as an explosion echoed beyond it.

The alien glanced up with a stolen gun in hand but paused when he saw Kurt, his eyes narrowed and his head tipped slightly to the side before he asked Kurt a question in a language Kurt simply didn't recognize.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Kurt said, though he was sure to look as nonthreatening as possible, both hands raised and his tone as gentle as possible. "Do you speak any English — or German, perhaps?" But when the boy stared at him blankly, he shook his head. "No, of course not."

The boy shook his head lightly and gestured for Kurt to follow him, running ahead at a far more normal speed and blasting through any guards that got in his way indiscriminately, clearly looking for something. Kurt frowned as he watched the boy rush into a room filled with equipment, though this time, the alien didn't seem to be interested in destroying it. Instead, he was trying to sift through the bits and pieces.

"Perhaps if I knew what you were looking for, I could help," Kurt muttered, mostly to himself. It was more or less a moot point anyway once the boy found what looked like a simple bracelet and put it on — and almost immediately, a holographic display of a ship came up.

Once more, the boy turned to Kurt and asked that same question, in an almost pleading tone, gesturing to the ship.

Kurt's eyebrows went up when he understood — it looked a lot like the wreck they had seen. He nodded quietly. "Yes, we found it," he said, still not sure why he was talking aloud when it was clear the boy couldn't understand him, but he was hoping he'd pick up on tone or body language and gestures.

The boy nodded at him in response, though Kurt wasn't sure that the message was getting through when he waved for Kurt to follow him again, this time speeding off fast enough that Kurt had to teleport to keep up, which only got a smile out of the young man and an approving nod before he poured on the speed even more.

When the two of them burst out into the open air, they were able to see the other half of the team clearly having a blast taking on the guards around the facility. The alien paused when he saw the fight, seeming to try to decide whether or not to join it, before he shook his head and turned back to Kurt, saying something again in his own language before he kept on running, with Kurt following out of more curiosity than anything else.

The boy seemed to know exactly where he was going, glancing at his bracelet every once in a while for guidance before at last he burst into the clearing where the crashed ship had been — and froze, looking wide-eyed at the damage.

He rushed forward toward the ship and rested a hand on its hull, looking even more distressed for a moment before he ran inside, and Kurt followed him, frowning at the destruction that was obvious to see throughout the ship. Inside, it was easy to see what Jean had felt — this thing was alive, and it was shuddering.

The alien rushed right to the center of the ship, where it looked like there were plenty of computer banks, but what those banks were for, it wasn't quite clear. There was a lot of destruction in this area, a green and slimy substance splashed indiscriminately everywhere, and the young man stopped in the center of it, looking around with a look of increasing desperation and muttering words that Kurt still didn't understand.

When it seemed the young man was at a complete loss, simply staring at the destruction around him, Kurt stepped forward and in a gentle tone offered, "My team and I came to help."

The alien looked up at Kurt for a moment before he simply sat down, his back against one of the computer banks and he rested his head, tipped back, against it, speaking in a low tone that sounded almost dejected.

Kurt frowned as he watched the young man before he went to his comm. "Scott, I'm back at the crash site. Our alien friend here came back to his ship. But it doesn't look like he's going anywhere."

"K, you guys are closest to Nightcrawler's position. Can you back him up?" Scott replied.

"Of course — any special requests?" K said, already rushing back toward the crash site.

Kurt frowned at the alien for a second and then nodded. "I think friendly and gentle is the way to go here. I don't think our friend is quite… processing it all. It's hard to tell. I don't recognize the language he's speaking."

"Jean said he didn't look too old. That might be part of it," K said. "But I'll try a few different languages if you think it might help."

"There's always a chance," Kurt agreed.

"Alright, well … sweet and sunshine was the only option anyhow. Jubilee is my adorable shadow. No idea how that happened." K was clearly smiling, and Jubilee was easily heard laughing over the comm beside her.

Kurt couldn't help but smirk. "I'm sure," he said as he sat down across from the alien, who was frowning at Kurt with his head tipped to the side — though the language barrier was preventing any questions he might have had.

It didn't take too long for the girls to arrive at the ship, though they couldn't get past the humming walls that wouldn't open for them. The ship was clearly not about to let anyone in that didn't come with the alien boy.

"Kurt, we're here, but I think his ship is a little racist against sweet harmless little Earth girls."

Kurt couldn't help but chuckle at the description as he got to his feet and gestured to the young man sitting across from him. "My friends are here," he said clearly, though the young man just stared at him until Kurt offered him a hand up and headed down the halls the way they had come.

The ship opened up for the two of them to leave, but as soon as the alien boy saw Jubilee and K, he narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of Kurt slightly, raising the stolen gun he'd gotten from the facility at the two of them with his lips pulled back in a sneer.

Naturally, K ignored the weapon and kept walking toward him, doing her very best to show totally relaxed body language. When she got close enough, she even frowned and reached up to move the hair out of his face, looking incredibly upset at his many and varied injuries. "You poor, sweet little thing," she said softly. "We should clean you up."

It was clear to see from his expression that the boy didn't quite know what to do with that reaction, though he did lower the gun a bit and stare at K with his head tipped to the side, looking even more confused when Jubilee ran over to Kurt and gave him a big hug. He muttered something that sounded like a question, but again, it was in that same language they didn't understand.

K tipped her head to the side and started cycling through all of the languages she knew — one by one — sure to give him a moment to process before moving to the next. "I'm sorry, I don't know your dialect," she told him, still looking almost forlorn at the injuries he carried, and very gently trying to reassure him that she wouldn't hurt him.

He still looked confused by the whole thing, not just the languages but the complete change from where he'd just been to the gentle reassurance K was giving him. But when he looked toward Kurt and saw that he was still standing by Jubilee and giving him a reassuring look, he seemed to drop his shoulders and nod.

Kurt gestured between himself and the two girls. "We can take you someplace safe," he said in his warmest tone as K offered him her hand, palm up, and simply waited.

The boy looked between them and frowned again before he seemed to completely misinterpret the gesture and put the gun from the guards into K's hand with a little nod. K shook her head and offered it back, though when the boy took it back, he looked even more confused.

K turned to Kurt and did the same — offered him an open hand, which Kurt took for a moment before K repeated the gesture again. This time, the alien boy nodded and took her hand, then tipped his head to the side and gestured for K to make the next move.

"Kurt, you should lead," K said to him. "I'll see if he'll follow you easier."

"Mother duck," Jubilee teased Kurt, who shook his head at her but went ahead and led the way back to the blackbird. And as K had anticipated, the alien boy seemed reluctant to let Kurt out of his sights and followed him, though when they got to the blackbird, he sort of paused, looking over the ship with a more critical eye.

"I'll tell Scott you're flying," K teased.

"And with far more style than he does," Kurt teased right back.

"You'll need to steal his spare glasses, though. Cockpit rules and all."

"Naturally," Kurt chuckled as he climbed in — though for as easy as it had been to get the alien boy to the blackbird, it completely changed once they were inside.

The boy seemed to take in the technology around him with a steadily growing frown before he grabbed the gun once more and spun with it pointed at K, demanding something in that same language in a tone that clearly said he was  _not_ happy.

"Honey, until we get on a common ground with linguistics, I can't help you like this," K said calmly, though she still wasn't losing her relaxed edge.

The boy nearly shouted something at her again, gesturing around the plane with one hand, though this time there  _was_ one word that all the X-Men understood when "Shi'ar" dropped into the demands.

The little group all shared a look, and K shook her head slowly. "No Shi'ar."

The alien paused and frowned at her before he took a deliberate step back and pointed to one of the tech components. "Shi'ar."

"Not anymore," she said, shaking her head before she drew a finger across her throat. "No Shi'ar."

This time, there was almost a smirk at the response, and the boy nodded, once more putting the gun away and muttering something that seemed to make his smirk even wider as he finally sat down in the jet.

K made her way over to the medical supplies, then returned to sit next to him and started to very gently clean him up a little bit — avoiding the worst injuries as she got the dirt, soot, and dried-up goop off of him.

It was enough of a clear move to earn his trust that he didn't really fight the group of them, even when the rest of the X-Men got to the jet — though he was clearly watching them over K's head with a look of uncertainty, like he was still trying to figure out what was going on. Though the small argument between Kurt and Scott over who was flying was entertaining in itself, even if he clearly didn't understand it.

And just before they took off, Jubilee appeared over K's shoulder with a candy bar in her hand — offering it to him with a grin. The boy tipped his head to the side and took the candy bar, though he just sort of held it in his hands, turning it over a few times. "Oh. Right. You probably don't have those in space do you?" Jubilee said before she held up one for herself and demonstrated how it was done — slowly opening it and then taking a huge bite.

The boy smiled her way for a second before he nodded and did the same — though to Jubilee's amusement, he didn't unwrap it first and seemed completely unbothered by this fact.

Jubilee burst into giggles and shook her head at him as she sat down next to him — and couldn't help laughing outright as he continued to eat the whole thing, wrapper and all, and then tipped his head to her in what she supposed was a thanks.

"Any luck understanding him?" Scott asked K, seeing as Kurt was flying.

"I understand that he's hilarious," Jubilee giggled as K shook her head.

"He was a little upset about the tech on here," she told him. "So … who hates those feathered losers that I really don't want to name right now?"

"Anybody they've conquered, for one," Scott pointed out. "Not to mention the Kree, the Skrulls…"

The boy's head came up.

"Looks like you hit on something he understands," K said, still cleaning him up a little.

"Well, if he was a Skrull, he probably would have shapeshifted by now," Scott pointed out.

"And I would have stabbed him, so that's probably not it," K agreed. "Kree then?"

The boy looked toward K and then broke into a smile. "Kree," he said with a little nod as well as a string of words that K didn't understand.

"And … that … doesn't sound like any Kree you had anyone learn, Scotty," Logan muttered.

"Maybe he's not Kree himself but lives under the Empire," Storm suggested.

Logan watched the boy for a few moments before trying to ask where he was from in the Kree that he knew — though it sounded nothing at all like what the boy was speaking.

The boy looked surprised for a second before he broke into a little smile and nodded Logan's way. "Hala," he said, still smiling.

"I've never seen anyone like him on Hala," Logan said, more to Scott than anyone else.

"And I don't think I've seen a living ship in the Kree Empire anywhere at all," Scott agreed. "But considering how much he hates the Shi'ar, it could be they moved him to Hala when they occupied it. They did have slaves there… I'm not sure. It doesn't quite track with what we know."

Logan nodded in agreement before he turned back to the boy. The language barrier was still there, but it was clear they were communicating at least a little better, like speaking Old English to a modern speaker. There were enough similarities that they could work it out, but it still took a few tries for Logan to go through the names of everyone on the jet and then ask the alien boy's name.

The boy smiled again and put a hand to his chest. "Noh-Varr," he said.

At that, Logan offered his hand and introduced himself too as the young man took it and held it. "We're gonna need to fast track this kid on English."

The boy seemed a lot more relaxed after having heard Kree, even if it wasn't quite the same language he was speaking, before he turned to K. "K," he said, to get her attention, then tapped his bracelet and held up the hologram of his ship.

"You want us to get the ship or you want to go there?" K replied with a little frown before Logan did his best to translate, though it was a little rough and took several tries.

The boy frowned a bit as he tried to work out how to explain it, and he tried a few different words before Logan finally heard one that was close enough to the dialect he knew: "salvage."

"I think I can pull a few strings," Logan said. "But we gotta move fast before Damage Control gets in there."

"He went straight to his ship after escaping," Kurt said. "I think he could find it even if Damage Control had it — which in itself is a reason to get it before they do."

"Yeah, I'd rather not have to dig through their stupid warehouse," Logan muttered. "Your call, Slim — how are we doing this thing?"

Scott took a deep breath as he thought about it, then nodded. "From what we saw, I doubt we can fly it out of there. We'll need more than the blackbird to get it to the institute. Maybe you can convince Stark to keep his hands off."

"Yeah, because his strong suit is keeping his hands  _off_ of things," K muttered.

"Oh, I'm sure he can be persuaded," Kitty grinned. "If he wants to keep 'em."

"Alright, fine. We'll do the ol' 'look over here' while we do what we want," K said. "That usually works."

"Good," Scott said, nodding. "I don't particularly want to have to chase this kid across the country if he wants to go back to his ship."

"Not that you would be fast enough to do the chasing," Kurt couldn't help but tease with a smirk.

"Yeah, we gotta send mother duck after him," Jubilee teased right back, earning a dry look from Kurt, though she simply stuck her tongue out at him and went right back to grinning at the alien boy. Clearly, this was going to be a whole new experience for everyone involved — and that meant  _fun_.


	3. Home Sweet Ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Noh-Varr gets back to his ship, and Tony gets told off by a very angry visitor from the stars.

 

* * *

In no time at all, the blackbird was back in Westchester, and Logan was already making his calls to the Avengers, with the alien boy — Noh-Varr — seeming reluctant to go further than the hangar as he watched Logan.

"Ship?" he asked Logan — since he'd heard it often enough when he showed the hologram to figure out that word at least.

Logan nodded his head and replied in Kree that they were going to retrieve it.

He nodded at that and gestured for Logan to lead the way. "Logan, Noh-Varr. Ship."

"That's the plan, kid," he said before he waved to where the girls were so K could join the group, though she had clearly changed out of her uniform — and Jubilee again looked irritated at being left behind.

"Jubilee?" Noh-Varr called out to the girl. "Ship?"

"We could use some fireworks," K agreed with a shrug as she put on a little lipstick. "And … it's fun to blow things up.… She  _needs_ to blow things up."

"See?" Jubilee grinned triumphantly with her hands on her hips.

"Fine with me," Logan said. "Not the first time I let you tag along."

Jubilee grinned as she made her way over — and then burst into giggles when she got close enough that Noh-Varr held out his hand for her to take.

"Oh yeah. You can  _so_ totally stay," she said, grinning up at him.

Logan glanced over his shoulder, simply to shake his head at the two of them, though before he could complain too loudly, K slipped over and gave him a kiss — purely to divert his attention.

Once the four of them got to where the Avengers were already looking over the crash site, though, the young alien was back to looking distressed over the damage, especially now that the ship had been more or less unearthed from where it had plowed into the ground. And yet it seemed to K and Jubilee like the ship looked a little less damaged than it had been — slightly less singed, anyway.

Noh-Varr ran over to his ship and ran a hand over the hull, and almost instantly, there was a light humming sound that got the attention of all the Avengers on the scene as Tony made his way over. "So this is your new alien friend, huh?" he asked.

"Yes, he's had a crappy welcome to the planet so far," K agreed as she gave Tony a little smile. "Kinda surprised you're out here yourself though. What's up with that? Slow night? Losing your touch?"

"Are you kidding?" Tony's face lit up. "I couldn't pass up a chance to see this kind of—"

Whatever Tony was going to say, though, was interrupted by Noh-Varr shouting at someone, and the group turned to see that Noh-Varr was furiously berating some of the Stark Industries men who were putting bits of tech aside. The staff seemed both bewildered and terrified, since they couldn't understand a word of the threats.

"Tony, please call off your vultures for a moment," K requested as neatly as she could. "If you play your cards right, he might just teach you without you destroying things."

Tony frowned a bit but held up both hands and gave the order for the staff to stop, and Noh-Varr looked satisfied for a moment before he simply picked up the whole stack of boxes and carried them back into his ship with a little glare over his shoulder at the staff — who were more than a little shocked at the shouting as well as the fact that he was carrying a crane-load with ease.

"Where did you  _find_ him again?" Tony asked, shaking his head.

"Oh, come on," K replied with a smirk. "I can't tell you where I find my talent."

"Does he speak any, I don't know, Earth languages at  _all_?" Tony asked.

"Not yet," she said. "But language can be  _so_ overrated."

"Don't have to tell me," Tony smirked right back at her.

"I'd hope not," she agreed. "If I did, then I'd have to totally blast your rep as garbage."

Tony was still chuckling as Noh-Varr came back to join the group, nodding a bit to himself before he glared Tony's way. "No ship," he said in a sharp tone.

"I think that means you'll have to do some butt kissing to get your info," K mock whispered his way before she bumped his shoulder.

"Aw, come on. It's a cultural misunderstanding. Language barrier. All that. We'll come to a mutual understanding in no time."

K couldn't help but smile at him. "Oh, I'm sure. I just didn't know he was your type."

Tony turned to stare at K for a second before he burst out laughing. "I set myself up for that one."

She laughed alongside him and took his arm. "You really, really did."

The salvage operation was moving along nicely as the teams dug the ship out of the ground and worked up a rig to carry it, though K didn't miss the fact that their new alien friend was watching the whole thing carefully and seemed to get testy if he lost sight of anything that belonged to the ship, obviously worried about someone making off with something they shouldn't have. But once the ship was loaded up, he simply nodded and then climbed up into the rig to stand by the ship and pat its hull, once more getting hums out of it as he  _talked_ to it.

"You guys find the strangest things," Tony muttered.

"Look at that, Tony — when he talks to tech, it actually talks back," K said. "It's like women — but with more metal."

"Hey, if I didn't know how to talk to women, would I have the rep I do?" Tony shot back with a grin.

"If you didn't have the wallet you did, you wouldn't have the women you do," she laughed, then gave him a quick squeeze. "But you can't handle the metal. Still."

"Maybe one day," he shot back with a smile.

It looked like everything was set to go when they were joined by one more newcomer — this time Thor, coming to check on what was clearly an alien matter on Earth, though he seemed a bit surprised by the ship.

"I thought Iron Man said that you had found a Kree," Thor said to Logan with a bit of a frown.

"I don't know what the hell he is, to be honest," Logan said, gesturing toward Noh-Varr. "I've done what I can, but whatever it is he speaks is almost Kree. Still got a few crossed wires."

"Hmm." Thor said. "Perhaps I can be of assistance." With that, he simply strode over to where Noh-Varr was still talking to his ship.

The difference in Noh-Varr was immediate even from where Logan was standing, as the boy simply lit up when he started talking to Thor. And Thor, for his part, seemed more and more intrigued by every answer the young man gave, and by the time he turned back to Logan, he was almost shaking his head to himself.

"And here I thought there was very little left on your world to surprise me," he told Logan as he sat down next to him. "And yet you have managed to find a Kree from a different reality than our own, it seems."

"Stick with us, and you'll never be bored again," Logan shot back.

Thor rumbled out a laugh and nodded his agreement. "That may well be the case," he said. "I asked your young friend how he came to be in our reality, and it seems this ship of his can cross dimensional barriers. Thus, his desire to keep it out of Iron Man's hands — even if it is incapable of being used anymore."

"Well, he's bein' distracted right now anyhow," Logan said, crossing his arms and turning back to watch Noh-Varr and his ship.

"Yes, I had noticed that as well," Thor said, the laughter evident in his voice. He took a deep breath and added, "He was an ensign on the ship and is the sole survivor of a crew of dozens of genetically-altered Kree. Apparently, they were explorers and conquerors for the Empire. And now, he is stranded here." Thor shook his head. "You really do find the strangest things."

"Hazard of the job," Logan agreed, still watching the whole scene unfold. "I'll let Charlie know what the story is. I'm sure he'll want to help him out. Soft spot for kids."

"If you need my aid, you have only to ask," Thor told him.

"Yeah, so you can bring more of that Asgardian crap over and get everyone wasted? No. I caught hell for that for weeks."

"Ah, but all of the young members of your group seemed to love it," Thor said with an obvious laugh. "And the party was magnificent."

"Yeah, door'll still be open on Halloween again."

Thor just nodded and made his way over to talk to K and Tony, though Logan was keeping an eye on their new friend. It was small enough that he didn't think anyone else had noticed yet, but the more the kid talked to his ship, the more it seemed to be actually healing itself, the structure getting a bit stronger, the dents buffing out, that sort of thing.

"Alright, we're ready to move," the head of the salvage operation declared once the ship was all set up, though Noh-Varr seemed perfectly content to stay right where he was.

"I'm riding with your driver," K told Tony. "Just in case anyone gets any bright ideas about trying anything stupid."

Tony just laughed and nodded. "Might be a good idea anyway. We're probably not the only ones who are interested, and ships don't fall out of the sky without hitting some serious radars."

"Thanks, Tony — we'll have to do a range day soon," she called out over her shoulder with a little wave.

With that, she made her way over to where Noh had settled in to sit on the rig with his ship, and the young man grinned over at her and waved -—clearly in a better mood for being with his ship.

The driver of the truck wasn't sure what was happening — particularly when K simply climbed in against his protests, though that stopped fast after a ringing  _snikt_ echoed the cab and the driver became a lot more agreeable suddenly. "Meet you home, sweetheart," she told Logan over the comm.

"Yeah, we'll be flying overhead," he replied, shaking his head before he motioned for Jubilee to join him.

Thankfully, the trip to Westchester wasn't too eventful, and once more, Noh-Varr was almost overseeing the whole unloading process until the Stark staff was gone, and he nodded decisively.

"K, Logan, Jubilee?" he called out, then patted his ship. "Ship." Part of the wall opened up beside him, and he tipped his head toward it.

Jubilee grinned and all but skipped over. "We really gotta teach you more than just our names and the word 'ship'," she told him.

He smiled and held out his hand for her, which got another giggle out of Jubilee before she took his hand and let him lead her into the ship. And now that she was inside, it was definitely clearer — the ship was healing itself, and she could see it seeming to straighten up and stitch itself back together.

Logan didn't look amused at all with how smitten Jubilee was looking with the young alien, but again, K did her best to divert his mood by slipping up next to him and wrapping her arms around him. "Be nice," she said quietly, even going so far as to kiss him before they followed the two teenagers into the ship.

Noh-Varr didn't say much as he showed the group of them around his healing ship, just letting them see the whole thing for themselves — though once more, he stopped the tour at the center of the ship, where there was still a mess of green sludge everywhere.

The smile instantly died, and he went to the computer banks, looking over everything several times in rapid succession — which was pretty fast, considering his speed —and looking increasingly upset.

"What's up?" Jubilee asked, frowning at the total change in Noh-Varr as he stared at a large open area by the computer banks, where most of the green sludge was concentrated.

"Plex," Noh-Varr said, but that didn't really answer the question, and he just kept gesturing at the open space.

K made her way closer to him and very gently rested her hand on his shoulder. "I have no idea what this means, but …"

Noh-Varr shook his head at her. "Plex," he tried to explain, tapping the side of his head, then tapping the center of her forehead.

"Psychic communication center?" K guessed.

"I mean, he  _does_ talk to his ship," Jubilee pointed out.

K smirked. "I am going to temporarily refrain from all forms of picking on telepaths for about ...oh, an hour."

Jubilee giggled at that before she came over to put her hand on Noh-Varr's arm. "We have a telepath if you want to talk to people that way?"

"Hug him, Jubes," K said out of the side of her mouth. "He needs a hug."

Jubilee giggled and didn't complain in the least before she threw her arms around Noh-Varr in a hug, and the boy looked totally shocked by the move before he gently put his arms around her the same way and rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and letting out a long breath.

K didn't wait to listen to Logan's complaint that she knew was coming. "Oh, hush. She was closest, and it's just a hug."

"We don't know anything about this kid," Logan grumbled back.

"And she'll blow him through the ship if he gets fresh. Relax," K replied. "She's being helpful. He trusts her — in case you missed him  _inviting her_ along to get his ship."

"I  _didn't_ miss that, as a matter of fact."

"Didn't think so. Trust the girl. She won't be stupid," K promised. "You taught her better than that. Didn't you?"

He paused for a long moment, unsure on how exactly to answer that, before he finally let out his breath and pulled her closer. "Not fair when you're coaching her."

When Noh-Varr had taken the moment he needed, he straightened up a bit and seemed to decide something, heading down one of the other halls until they reached a room that had a few long cylindrical tubes in it. And once they were inside, Noh-Varr started setting up something at the computers.

One of the tubes lit up, and Noh-Varr turned to the other three with a nod. "No Kree," he tried to explain, tapping a finger against his own mouth. When it was clear that none of them knew what he was talking about, though, he simply shook his head and went back to what he was doing before he went to the tube, hooking a few things up to his arms before he stepped inside.

"No Kree," he said again, tapping his mouth before he closed the door on the tube, and the whole thing filled quickly with a greenish liquid. After that rush of greenish fluid, he was just… suspended in the tube, the computers the only things making any sound.

"What are the chances we're stuck in here until he gets out?" Logan said, looking a little more on edge.

"What's he doing, anyway?" Jubilee asked, though if she wanted a clue from the computers, she wasn't going to get one, since they were all in a different Kree dialect.

"Darlin', if I knew that, I wouldn't be standin' around watching this creepshow."

Jubilee frowned as she watched Noh-Varr. "Should we… do something?" she asked uncertainly.

"What do you want to do?" K asked. "Other than wait to see what he's doing to himself?"

"I don't know," Jubilee said. "Shouldn't we… I mean… that doesn't look very… good."

"Do the comms work in here?" K asked, already starting to explore. "Because you might want to tell Scott what's going on so he doesn't you know … freak out and start doing the lazer face of doom on the side of the ship while we're in it."

"Oh yeah, that would be bad," Jubilee agreed before she pulled out her comm and quickly filled Scott in on how Noh-Varr had "locked himself in a creepy green tube, so we're gonna see what's up, because he was kinda depressed before."

"Where are you in the ship's layout?" Scott asked. "I can come to you."

"Oh, well, you might have to convince the ship to let you in…"

"I might have to what?"

"Well, the ship is kind of… alive."

"Alright, yeah, I'm coming to you."

"I don't think…" Jubilee looked uncertainly at the tube Noh-Varr was in. "I don't think … it doesn't look dangerous to anyone but him…"

"There don't seem to be any doors on the outside," Scott said, clearly already in the hangar.

"Oh, the walls open up," Jubilee said brightly. "Maybe I can let you in?"

But when Jubilee skipped down the hall to where the wall leading outside was, she was surprised when it didn't open up for her. "Oh come on. You let me in before!"

"What's going on?"

"The ship… ah… isn't opening up."

"Alright, stand back," Scott said.

"Oh, hey, wait, no, maybe don't shoot the living ship?" Jubilee said, shaking her head quickly. "We're okay in here. Really."

Scott paused, then said, "I'm going to need constant updates. If anything changes, I don't care how long it took to get this thing here, I'll blast through it if you three get trapped in there."

"Okay, well, we'll just let you know then, Fearless," Jubilee said, headed back down the hall. She didn't want to break the ship, but… she had to admit, it  _was_ kind of creepy in there.

Still, the only thing for it was to just… wait.


	4. A Much Better Welcome to Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Noh-Varr surprises everyone with his language learning skills and has a sit-down with Charles Xavier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're following the tiny!Clint universe, the next chapter isn't quite ready for publishing today, but CC and I have such a backlog of like fifty bajillion universes that we're gonna put out an update a day, so... have a tiny!Noh!

 

* * *

It was almost a full twenty-four hours before whatever was going on with the green tube was over and done with, and almost as quickly as it happened before, the liquid drained. The noise of the machine draining caught Logan and K's attention, seeing as they had been just quietly and carefully monitoring the whole situation while Jubilee explored.

When Noh-Varr opened his eyes again, he smiled at Logan and K and pulled out the leads — though neither of them missed the fact that there were absolutely no bruises or cuts on the kid anymore, either. He let himself out of the tube and then waved at both of them as they shared a wordless look, wondering if this tube was used for some kind of advanced healing.

That is, until...

"Have you both been waiting here this whole time?" Noh-Varr asked, his head tipped to the side.

The two little ferals shared a surprised look, though for the kid's sake, they tried not to show too much shock. K answered for them in a measured tone, still not quite sure what to make of the situation. "Well, we really didn't know what was going on — and honestly, we weren't real comfortable with how you stashed yourself."

"The limbo suite?" Noh-Varr looked back at the tube and shrugged.

"Much more friendly ring than 'genesis tube'," Logan rumbled low.

"I'm not sure I'm familiar with a genesis tube — is it used for genetic enhancement or embryonic growth?" he asked, frowning a bit. "The name would suggest something like that."

"It  _was_ occasionally used for the second, but mostly it was used for a stasis on … subjects," K replied. "Not anymore though. That group was destroyed."

Noh-Varr frowned at that. "The group that headed up the destruction of my ship and my capture?"

"No," Logan said, shaking his head. "Different group."

Noh-Varr shook his head. "Your planet has an overabundance of such groups," he said. "I have only been here for a short time and already learned of the existence of two."

"You really don't gotta tell us," Logan agreed.

"Well, the limbo suite is nothing like that," Noh-Varr assured them. "I was simply using it to download your language."

"Efficient," K said, turning her head to look for Jubilee. "Would you go with us to talk to our friends? We're a little foggy on the whole interdimensional visitor angle."

"Yes, of course," Noh said, following her gaze and obviously searching as well. "And where is Jubilee?"

Almost on cue, the girl came bounding in, just off of updating Scott on how "literally nothing has changed" before she stopped short and smiled when she saw Noh. "Oh, you're back!"

"Yes, I am," he said with a smile — which totally stopped Jubilee. She even dropped her jaw and stared at him.

"Oh my gosh, have you known English this  _whole time_ , you  _goon_?"

"No," Noh-Varr said, holding up his hands quickly. "That is what I was doing — learning your language."

"By floating in weird green stuff?"

"It… is not 'weird green stuff.'"

"It so is."

Noh-Varr frowned at her and then shook his head. "I can download information directly as long as I block out other stimuli," he explained, tapping the side of his head. "Thankfully, at least this much survived the crash, though I could have communicated through Plex if it had not been destroyed…" He let out a long breath. "You did not need to wait for me. I tried to explain what I was doing."

"Your ship didn't open any  _doors_ ," Jubilee said.

"Ah. I didn't think about that," Noh-Varr said with a frown. "I thought she would have let you leave easily enough."

"We were comfortable enough," K said with a wave. "No harm done."

Noh nodded her way. "You said you had friends you wanted me to speak to?" he said at last. "I can speak with anyone you need me to. And the  _Marvel_ will let you leave with me."

Logan put his arm around K's shoulders and started to steer her toward the door. "Follow us. I'm sure Scott and Charlie got a few questions."

"I… don't think Charlie was among those I was introduced to," Noh-Varr said as he followed them, though not before once more offering his hand to Jubilee.

"No, he's the guy that runs this whole shindig," Jubilee said as she took his hand with a grin. "Sweet old grampa type."

"And what is this 'shindig'?" Noh asked. "All I know is that you kill Shi'ar."

"She's using horrible old slang," K said over her shoulder. "He's the one that takes care of all of us — and every lost little teenage mutant he hears of."

"Mutant… as in genetically altered?" Noh asked.

"Well that's the term used by the non-advancing part of the gene pool," K said.

"Ah," Noh said, nodding his understanding. "So your planet is undergoing an evolutionary shift. That's perfectly normal."

"The acceptance of it is ... stubbornly slow," Logan said.

Noh frowned. "Why? Should you not celebrate the advance of your people?"

"Maybe if it was a little more benign," K said. "But if you listen to the geneticists, it's taking a little bit of a leap — lots of random dramatic shifts."

"Ah, so you haven't learned how to direct your genetic advances," Noh-Varr surmised.

"The theory is there, and the practice is there, but … we tend to move away from purposefully directed mutations. Where we can," K said. "It's kind of hard to explain without revealing how terribly shallow the worst among us are."

Noh-Varr tipped his head to the side as they got to the outer wall. "I suppose I don't understand. Where I come from, genetic enhancements are the ultimate perfection. I myself was created with a triple helix structure to solidify the best directed genetic potential, and most of my crew was similarly grown to their full potential."

"Here, the more genetically gifted are hunted and turned into tools," K said with a shrug. "It's still pretty fresh."

Noh-Varr frowned at that and then gestured the three of them through the door, where Scott was still waiting outside with his arms crossed. He looked surprised to see them all walk out and strode over to them. "What's going on?" he demanded.

"Kid learned English," Logan said without breaking his stride as he walked past Scott.

"Overnight?"

"It is called the limbo suite," Noh-Varr explained — which was more than enough to get Scott to turn his way in obvious surprise.

"Can we do this with Charlie, please?" K asked over her shoulder, several steps ahead with Logan.

Scott frowned but nodded. "He'll want to talk to you anyway," he said. "We're still not sure who it was that called for help."

"It was likely Plex, but that in itself is a matter best explained only once," Noh-Varr said.

Scott still looked a bit skeptical of the whole situation, watching Noh-Varr with a frown as they made their way down the hall, though when Noh-Varr saw that he looked a bit apprehensive, he stopped and turned to hold his hand out to Scott, palm upturned. "You are coming with us, yes?"

Logan had been at the elevator, holding the door for the group, when Noh offered Scott his hand. And then Logan simply froze, the pure amusement unmistakable for the half second of silence before he simply burst out laughing.

Scott had frozen too, though for a totally different reason, and Noh-Varr looked between Scott and Logan with an expression of pure confusion. "I thought…"

K let her shoulders drop as she covered Logan's mouth and pushed him into the elevator. "They're idiots. That's the best I could do when we couldn't talk, sweetheart."

"It's an effective way to show trust," Noh-Varr said.

"No, no, that was the right thing to do," Logan said through his laughter, though he pulled K closer, in spite of the glare she was giving him. "Come on, Scott." To make it worse, Logan, grinning widely and waved them forward. "I'd offer you my hand, but I think you can only do so much at a time."

Scott was glaring hard at Logan, though he knew he was in a bad situation, since the alien kid clearly thought it was a gesture of trust, and he didn't want Noh-Varr to think he didn't trust him…

Before Logan could lose it, K pushed forward to kiss him — at least getting him to be  _quiet_ and lay off of Scott for a minute or two.

"I must not understand the custom," Noh-Varr told Jubilee with a little frown.

She giggled at him and squeezed the hand she was still holding. "Yeah, come on, Scott. We're all friends here, right?"

Scott shot her a glare too, but the damage was done, and Scott just shook his head. "Let's just… go find the professor," he said, shouldering into the elevator.

Jubilee was still giggling by the time the elevator opened up, especially because Scott was still wordlessly leading the way out. But when Noh-Varr still looked concerned, she grinned up at him. "Oh don't worry," she said. "That's just how our fearless leader is sometimes. He's a goon."

"Then why is he your leader if he is a 'goon'?" Noh-Varr asked with a frown. "You called me that earlier; I thought it was a bad thing."

"Yeah, but we love him anyway," Jubilee said, though Noh-Varr just shook his head at her for that, so she gave his hand another little squeeze.

"He's the leader because we like to follow him into the charge," K said with a grin Scott's way. "Lead on, fearless. Lead on."

Scott gave her a dry look and didn't respond to any of them until they got to Charles' office, where he simply held the door open for them.

"Awww, you were doing so well too," K told him as she passed.

"Stop it, K," he told her, shaking his head. "That poor kid is going to think he's found a crazy circus."

"I'm picking on you, not him," she said. "I'm not going to make him crazy. I swear."

"Uh-huh," he said before he closed the door behind them and took a seat close by as Noh-Varr introduced himself to Charles.

"You must be Charlie," he said — which elicited a raised-eyebrow look from the man in question, not only at his sudden grasp of English but at the nickname. "It's my understanding you run this… shindig."

K drew in a breath and leaned toward Scott in a whisper. "That … was actually Jubilee, so … for the record."

Charles smiled warmly at Noh-Varr, gesturing for the boy to join him. "Yes, that's correct. But please, call me Charles," he replied. When Noh-Varr sat down across from Charles, he leaned forward, his fingers laced together. "Perhaps you could tell us who it was that sent out the psychic cry for help? We are still trying to piece together the events leading up to our meeting."

Noh-Varr frowned a bit and then nodded. "That must have been Plex," he said.

"Plex?" Charles repeated.

Noh-Varr nodded. "You are familiar with the Supreme Intelligence, yes?" he asked. When Charles nodded, Noh-Varr smiled. "I thought so. You have some understanding of other planetary systems.

"We have had a few dealings outside our own solar system," Charles agreed.

Noh-Varr tipped his head. "Plex is a much smaller version of the Supreme Intelligence, installed on each individual exploratory ship. Plex links the minds of those in the ship, and in turn, Plex is linked back to the Supreme Intelligence on Hala."

"Psychic communication center," K said with a smirk.

Noh-Varr nodded. "That is one of its tasks, yes," he said before his shoulders dropped. "But you must have been the last to hear from Plex. When I arrived at my ship, Plex … was long dead."

The air rang with silence after that statement; it was clear Noh-Varr was still mourning everything that had happened.

"How was it you came to our planet, Noh-Varr?" Charles asked at last. "I'd love to hear your story."

Noh-Varr's frown deepened, and he shook his head. "There is not much to tell. My crew and I were traveling between dimensions, and in the split second we were in this one, we were shot down. I do not know how I survived when no one else did, but I woke up in the facility in which this… group found me." He gestured to the others. "And I'm sure they have told you everything else."

Charles smiled again and nodded his head. "I'm afraid that I may have spent some time conversing with Jubilation earlier, yes," Charles admitted.

"Then you know I am stranded here," Noh-Varr said heavily. "Plex is destroyed, my crew is all dead, there is no way to jump dimensions without them."

"I'm truly sorry to hear that," Charles said. "I was not aware you were so trapped."

"There is nothing that can be done to change it," Noh-Varr said with a long and heavy sigh. "Perhaps this isn't something you have learned on this world, but that is a basic tenet of time travel: what is done is done."

"We have a similar phrase here, yes," Charles said. "But I'm still sorry that your introduction to Earth has been so unpleasant."

Noh-Var nodded. "I would declare war for the insult if not for the kindness your group has shown me," he said perfectly matter-of-factly. "This planet is violent and troublesome and wars against its own interests, but I would not be true to the Kree creed if I were to ignore the fact that you have helped me."

"I'm sure that with a little time here, you'll find that most of the people on this planet do not desire war," Charles replied. "Unfortunately, they were not the first you met."

"Nor those opposing genetic advances," Noh-Varr said, glancing toward K.

"They are simply afraid of their own species' extinction," Charles said. "Perfectly understandable fear, though I believe that, with the right education, we can coexist peacefully."

"Of course," Noh-Varr said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Where I am from, there are no internal strifes. Kree take care of their own, regardless of genetics."

"Then I am sorry that you are no longer there in your world," Charles replied. "We must seem terribly primitive to you."

Noh-Varr nodded softly. "The technology here is so impersonal," he said. "Your minds are so separate. It is so… quiet." He let his volume drop at that last word. Although he had been sitting almost at attention for most of the conversation, he seemed to shrink down slightly at the admission, and Charles brushed his mind to find an ache there stronger than any of the confusion or grief the boy was also feeling.

Noh-Varr was alone, and his mind was in pain for being torn from others.

"Not all of us are so separate," Charles said, trying to give the boy some comfort. "Some of us are telepaths, and it seems there is never a lack of company for it."

Noh smiled a bit at that. "That is a small measure of what I had," he said. "I'm glad to hear it."

"Of course, I make it a rule to not intrude without permission," Charles continued.

"Then these are the ones who have agreed to it?" Noh-Varr guessed, gesturing around the room.

"Only on occasion," Charles told him with a smile. "We are not connected constantly."

Noh-Varr nodded thoughtfully. "We thought separately, of course, but our minds were one in the ship," he tried to explain. "Here, everything is solid, separate. Where I am from, our technology grows with us. Our actions are recorded into the mass consciousness of Plex so that others can learn from them. You must be terribly alone and without guidance. How do you survive?"

"Some of us thrive on the independence," Logan rumbled out quietly.

"Independence is useful in new situations," Noh-Varr said. "Exploration is necessary, as is learning. But it's so inefficient not to learn from the generations before, isn't it?"

"We teach the newer generations," Charles told him.

"I suppose it would take longer without a limbo suite," Noh-Varr said with a smirk.

"But it's fun," Jubilee said, grinning.

"I think she just said that school was fun," Scott muttered under his breath to K.

"Eew, no," Jubilee said, pulling a terrible face at him. "I was thinking of Wolvie's trips to Madripoor and the Savage Land — duh."

"Of course; what was I thinking," Scott said dryly.

K reached over to pat Scott's arm. "It's okay, baby boy. It's not you. It's the book."

Noh-Varr looked between the group and shook his head. "I do not know how advanced you are, but you know of Shi'ar and can speak a version of Kree I have not heard."

"That's the Kree from this universe," Logan told him.

"A different dialect, then — probably an earlier one, seeing as this planet is not yet under the Empire," Noh-Varr said. He missed the looks the others passed between them as he added, "Then you've had dealings with Hala?"

Logan glanced over to Charles. "We've been a few times, yeah. But that's not really the norm for this planet."

"Are they …" Noh-Varr paused to reorder his thoughts. "They cannot be so advanced as my people or they would be here by now, answering the distress call."

"They have their own concerns right now that don't reach this part of the galaxy," Scott said.

"Perhaps I should be with them then," Noh-Varr said.

"If that's what you really want, we might be able to find a way to get you there," Charles replied. "Though you are more than welcome to remain here as long as you like."

"My ship should repair itself within a matter of weeks — months if the systems are too damaged," Noh-Varr said. "And then… I should return to my purpose. I have been to many realities and served the Kree in each. That is why I exist, after all."

Jubilee had her lower lip pushed out and her arms crossed. "Do you have to?" she half grumbled to herself.

Noh turned her way with an open look. "Of course," he said. "I told you — I was created by the Kree to serve the Empire. What else would I do?"

She shrugged and frowned a little deeper. "I dunno. Doesn't really matter, I guess."

Noh-Varr frowned her way before he turned back to Charles. "Thank you for your hospitality — and for the team that aided me in the facility where you found me."

"As I said, you're welcome to stay as long as you like," Charles said, though he didn't put voice to what he and the other X-Men were discussing telepathically — that the boy might not like Hala if he were to visit. "I'm sure that Scott can take you to a room where you can rest and hopefully be comfortable when you're not working on your ship."

"I appreciate the gesture," Noh-Varr said, getting to his feet. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Charles. And you may call me Noh."


	5. Give the Boy Room to Stretch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jubilee gives Noh a tour of the mansion and Scott sneakily gets Noh to do a power assessment in the Danger Room.

 

* * *

After Scott had shown the young alien the room he'd be staying in, Noh-Varr was thrilled to see Jubilee stop by with an invitation to show him around the school. He smiled at her widely and nodded. "Do you give the tours for everyone?" Noh-Varr asked. "Or only for aliens? Or is that not common?"

"Anyone that will be staying with us for any amount of time should know their way around," Jubilee told him. "Besides … who wants to just know where their room is anyhow?" she took a peek in the nearest mirror and fiddled with her hair before she blew a huge pink bubble. "Ready when you are!"

"What are you doing?" Noh asked.

"Um … walking?" she asked, frowning his way.

"No — the bubble," Noh-Varr said.

"Oh! Right," she reached into her pocket and produced a package of gum. "It's bubble gum. You chew it up until it's all soft, and then you can blow bubbles with it. Try it. It's great! Oh ... but … if you're going to blow bubbles, maybe don't keep the wrapper on?"

"But it's organic too."

"It is, but we're not eating it, we're just chewing it," she said. "It's something to do."

Noh-Varr looked a bit skeptical before he unwrapped the piece of gum and chewed it, though that was as far as he got before he had to figure out how to blow a bubble — and that was something else entirely.

"What is the point of this?" he asked after the third failed attempt.

Jubilee stopped squared up with him and very slowly blew the biggest bubble she'd attempted yet. "That. Is the point," she said after she popped it and then wrapped it up on her finger. "Just to do it."

"Alright," Noh-Varr said, shaking his head at her.

"Try for one that's smaller to start with," she advised. "You can work your way up."

He just smiled and nodded. "As with everything worth learning," he pointed out before he offered her his hand. "But we were going to tour the institute, yes?"

"Right — tour time," she said with a decisive nod, then paused to adjust her sneakers — and began to roll off smooth as could be. "So ... down this hall are the classrooms … mostly boring stuff with otherwise fun people …" They turned the corner, Jubilee with one foot in front of the other for the smooth glide. "And .. in this hall, we have the science wing. Whole lotta fun if you like to learn about the intricacies of genetics and some more interesting theories from Dr. Blue on well … lots of things. Really. Pick a class. Any class."

"That sounds intriguing," Noh said honestly. "And would be a good use of my time while I'm here; learning about this new reality."

"He'd love to have you," Jubilee told him. "But … you'll probably be bored with our double helix, forty-six chromosome knuckle draggin. Or whatever."

"Every species is different," Noh-Varr said diplomatically. "And there is something to learn in every reality."

"That is a nice way of saying 'yes, total snooze fest, Jubilee, how did you ever know?'" Jubilee said with her nose up as they continued their speedy wheelie led tour.

"My whole mission was exploration," he pointed out. "It's a bit slower than I am used to, but… it is learning all the same."

She gave him a sidelong glance, seeming to study him for a moment before she shrugged. "Okay."

"Do you go to these classes?" he asked.

"Yep," she said, nodding. "Most of the time, anyhow."

"Then we can go together," Noh-Varr said. "It will be nice to have someone familiar there."

She paused for just a second and seemed a touch off balance. "Okay. You'd have to clear it by Scott …"

"I have to ask to have access to learning and knowledge?" he asked, looking totally confused.

"If you put it like that, he'll totally cave in a heartbeat," Jubilee said before she blew another massive pink bubble.

Noh-Varr shook his head at her. "I understand your language perfectly, but not the way you use it."

"That is because you totally used an old dictionary or something, dude. Gotta get with it. He'll say yes if you use that access to knowledge line," she said with a smile his way.

Noh-Varr laughed and nodded. "Alright, then I will say that."

She turned around to face him and held out her other hand for him and started skating backwards. "This … is the more specialized area. We learn psychic defense down here — and tactics. Little bit of, you know … alien tech. The fun stuff. Useful."

"Yes, of course — then what are the other classes for?" he asked, his head tipped to the side.

"State requirements for those in the mutant population that for some idiotic reason  _don't_ want to grow up to be an X-Man. Of course … some of us are just so awesome that we've been here for a while and don't need to graduate first."

"So you are an X-Man?" Noh-Varr asked.

"Of course," Jubilee said brightly. "I joined when I totally saved Wolvie's life."

"And that is the team that Scott leads, yes?" Noh-Varr said.

"Yep," she agreed, nodding along and still skating backwards — not once looking over her shoulder.

"And you have to complete an education to become one?" he asked. "Are you trained?"

"Well … it's supposed to help," she replied. "And we have all kinds of self defense and combat classes … then there are team exercises … ooh, that's the next step of the tour." She came to a stop — still not looking behind her as they arrived the elevators.

"That sounds much like what I left. I think that would be enjoyable," Noh-Varr said with a nod.

"We'll see how it goes. We have a few known Danger Room hogs," she said, blowing the hair out of her face. She hummed a little tune to herself as the elevator went down, and as soon as the doors opened, she glided out and did a slow serpentine down the hall, pointing at the different rooms. "Gym. Weights are in there, and a small track for when it's too cold out …  _my_ room … full of gymnastics equipment … the medical lab ... bumps and bruises are remedied fast and Twinkies are easy to come by here … and finally … the Danger Room, which … I am so not surprised to see is occupied." She let out a huff. "Wanna go up and see who's using it?"

"I… think so," Noh-Varr said, shaking his head at her with a little smile. "It sounds intriguing. How does one use the Danger Room anyway?"

"Well, usually, you'd have someone run the simulations for you — hard light holograms designed to react like any number of baddies and losers that are totally asking to get their butts handed to them ... " Jubilee said in a quick rush that was much more professional-sounding than anything she'd said to him so far. "We used life model decoys for a while, but the repairs on them took forever, and it slowed us down, really. The hard light works much better, and they can morph into anything you want."

"This  _is_ intriguing," Noh-Varr said, starting to grin. "Yes, I'd like to see that very much, thank you."

She popped her shoes again to hide the wheels and led the way up the stairs into the booth. Scott was running the board for Logan and K — who were at the moment having some fun tearing up soldiers of a uniform that Jubilee did not recognize … though it had to be the end of that sim, since the two ferals polished off the few soldiers around them and grabbed each other in a passionate kiss.

Scott leaned forward and hit the mic. "Do you two want to maybe focus on what you're doing for a change?"

"I was, Slim … but then you started talking and wrecked the mood," Logan called back.

"So… kissing is a generally accepted form of celebration after you defeat an enemy, yes?" Noh-Varr asked, tipping his head toward where Logan and K were wrapped up in each other.

"Um … yes. But .. those two kiss all the time," Jubilee replied quietly.

"And this is supposed to be for training," Scott said.

"So you think that's gonna stop them?" Jubilee challenged with a little laugh.

"No, but sometimes I experiment with optimism," Scott said before he started to fiddle with the controls in the booth to set up a new sim.

"And I am optimistic that they would do that in battle too," Jubilee said as she took the open seat next to Scott.

Noh-Varr was leaning forward as he watched the sim starting up below, his eyebrows raised when he recognized the location the hard light had formed. "That is Chandilar," he said.

"Yeah, we've gone there a few times too," Scott said, smirking to himself as he turned up the heat and the two ferals went back to back clearing out Shi'ar Imperials. He had known Noh and Jubilee would stop here on their tour, and he was sure that Chandilar was the right bait to set out to see if he could get Noh in the Danger Room to assess his powers.

"We used to train in simulations like this," Noh-Varr said, starting to grin. "The Shi'ar are long gone in my reality, but they are excellent fodder for training — and there are, of course, still realities where their infestation must be excised." When Scott simply nodded at that, Noh's smile widened. "Would it be possible for me to try my hand at such a simulation?" he asked, watching Logan and K go to work.

"I don't see why not," Scott replied. "If you want to let them finish up …"

He nodded. "I would like more soldiers than that," he said.

"No problem. We were simulating the response from that level of the palace, but I can adjust it for a full infiltration if you'd like."

"Yes, I would like that," Noh-Varr said, nodding. "And since they are hard light, a few explosions would not damage things too badly, would they?"

"No, and even if it did, we're used to it," Scott said turning toward Jubilee. "This one likes to blow out the entire room."

Noh-Varr grinned at her for that. "That is the proper way to do things."

"Not like you don't blast through the door now and again," Jubilee said toward Scott.

Scott smirked at her for that one and was already fiddling with the controls as Logan and K's sim came to a close. "It happens to almost everyone at some point."

When Logan and K were finished with their sim, Noh was smiling and already headed down the stairs, so Scott had to lean over to the mic. "Noh-Varr wants to try out the Danger Room," he told the two of them — both to let them know that the bait had worked and to get them to break up their makeout session so the young alien boy could try his hand at their simulations.

"We all want something, Scotty," K sang back.

"Clear out," he said, shaking his head at her.

"We'll be up in a sec," Logan said, chuckling to himself as the doors opened and he tipped his head toward Noh. "All yours, kid."

Noh-Varr grinned at them. "Thank you," he said, already grinning wider as the hard light sim started up and he found himself in the middle of a large group of Shi'ar. And in a second, he had burst into action, running faster than they had seen him run in the smaller space of the facility as he simply started to push his way through the Shi'ar, hitting hard enough to break the armor they were wearing and simply slaughtering them as he went to work.

Scott leaned forward in the booth with a bit of a frown as he watched the young man go. He was fast and strong — they already knew that — but it was also clear to see that he was incredibly flexible when he twisted to avoid a laser blast in a way that a normal spine just wouldn't do and kept right on going, running up the walls to flip over backwards.

"Not too shabby on the flip, but the landing needs work," Jubilee said with a little sniff. "5.6 at best."

Noh landed behind the biggest Shi'ar soldier and jammed his thumb into the soldier's neck before he stepped back, running up to the ceiling to sit there with an obvious smirk as the soldier in question simply exploded on the spot.

Noh-Varr kept grinning to himself the further he went through the sim until, finally, he had gone through the entire group, blasting and punching his way through until he simply tossed the last soldier hard enough into a wall over his shoulder that his neck broke on the impact alone.

He glanced around himself, but on seeing that there was no one left to fight, he smiled up at the booth. "That was enjoyable," he said.

"I'm glad you got to stretch," Scott said. "Even if the Beverly Hills judge was a little harsh."

"I am a gymnast," Jubilee said, giving Scott a dirty look. " _You_ wouldn't have gotten more than a 3.0."

"High standards, Slim … it's a thing," Logan muttered, smirking to himself before Scott killed the mic. "That was a fun little sim to watch."

Scott nodded, leaning back with his arms crossed. "I'll have to check the recording on how that explosion happened. We knew he was strong and fast, but the rest…"

"Uh -oh," K sang out as she leaned her head on Logan's shoulder. "Sounds like someone wants to recruit…"

"We'd have to talk to him about non-lethal methods of fighting," Scott said.

"Like anyone listens to that," K muttered quietly, getting a hollow laugh from Logan.

Scott shot her a little glare and shook his head. "You saw what he's capable of. I don't want to put him on the team and start a massacre."

"You're totally blowing over the fact that he wants to go back to Hala ... which … come on." Logan shook his head. "He's not gonna like it if he goes."

"Which is why it would be a good idea for him to have a different option," Scott pointed out.

"Then what's your plan?"

Scott tipped his head toward the Danger Room below. "He's already been trained. I'd say we just give him the opportunity to learn how to do things with  _this_  team."

"If you can talk him into it, we'll help where we can," Logan told him.

Scott nodded. "That would be good. He already trusts you. He'd be more inclined to stay if he made more connections — stronger ones, too."

A moment later, Noh-Varr came up from the room below, still grinning from the sim. "Perhaps next time, we can do Skrulls or the Brood," he suggested to Scott, who simply nodded with a little smirk.

"Wanna watch the playback?" Logan asked, leaning his head backward to look up at him.

He nodded. "Yes, I would like to see whether I missed any opportunities to do things more efficiently."

"You totally blew your landing," Jubilee said before she blew another bubble.

"I will have to work on that," Noh-Varr said as he sat down to watch the playback.

"What were you doing here?" Scott had to ask the alien boy, pausing the playback in the spot just before the big Shi'ar had blown up.

"Oh," Noh-Varr said, nodding before he held out one hand and showed Scott the tips of his fingers before one nail extended quickly, and Noh broke the end of it off to hold it up. "I can detonate this," he explained.

"I don't think we've ever seen that before," Scott said with one eyebrow raised.

"Well, this is a different reality," Noh-Varr said with a laugh. "It's an effective way to clear a room."

"No kidding," Scott said, logging that information away for later. It was clear still that Noh-Varr had such vastly different powers than they were used to seeing that it was going to take some getting used to.

When they were done reviewing footage, the tour picked back up — though it was now focused entirely on the more outer reaches of the school: Storm's greenhouse, the stables, the boathouse … the lake, the forest . By the time they were done, it was dark, and the stars were shining above, even with the last warm colors of sunset fading at the horizon.

Noh-Varr turned to watch the colors shine through the clouds and smiled at Jubilee. "Your atmosphere does the most spectacular things."

"It's different every night — and every morning too," she agreed.

"I like it," Noh-Varr said, smiling a bit wider. "Thank you for taking the time to direct me today."

"Oh, any time," she replied with a cheerful smile. "I know how much it sucks to be the new kid."

Noh-Varr shook his head. "I'm an explorer and conqueror of worlds. I am always new."

"Yeah, well … how often do you stick around to get to know anyone?"

He laughed. "Admittedly, not very often."

"Then you," she said, poking him in the center of his chest, "Mr. Explorer and Conqueror of Worlds — you are missing out."

He shrugged. "Perhaps. I'm certainly enjoying getting to know the X-Men."

"Well, you're spending time with the best," she said softly.

"I can believe it," he said. "To have blown out the Danger Room so many times."

She shrugged, looking a little self-conscious. "I don't really mean to. It's not always easy to control my sparkles … well... plasmoids, if you want to be more specific."

"Plasmoids?" he said.

"Um … yeah … it's just …" She held her hand out and let a few colorful sparks fly from her fingertips, exploding in the dark.

He grinned. "Those are far more aesthetically pleasing than the explosions I can create."

"Well .. I'm working on my fine control. I can do big ... like … really big. But I'm concentrating on smaller stuff. Kind of hard to go too small without hitting subatomic levels, and I don't want to accidentally start a nuclear reaction."

"Yes, that would be bad," Noh-Varr agreed before he offered her his hand again. "And yet to have that power and know when not to use it speaks to your training."

"That is a whole lot of what this crowd is about," Jubilee said in an almost apologetic tone. "And I'm nowhere near the one with the most firepower."

"Who is that, exactly?" Noh-Varr asked

"Depends on who you ask, doesn't it?" she said. "Scott is pretty wicked — especially when he gets mad and takes the visor off; Ol' Professor X up there is the most powerful telepath in the world; and then we have a weather goddess; and Scott's wife, Jean … who does like … a lot of stuff. Telepath, telekinetic … you know. Stuff."

Noh-Varr nodded along thoughtfully and then had to ask, "And this is not normal on your world, yes? You are the beginnings of the genetic advances."

"No, not really," she said. "There are a few older mutants … a few from  _waaay_ back, but Logan and K are the oldest ones here. And most of the mutants we come across don't really have much … you know. Punch."

"Because you don't direct the advances," Noh-Varr said. "It's strange to be in a reality that is so willfully holding itself back."

"Well … we don't direct them because we choose our partners for love. Not … best genetic match up. But if you listen to  _some_ super creepos, a lot of 'perfect' genetic matches happen on their own."

Noh-Varr shook his head. "I suppose it's a cultural difference," he said. "My parents were happy to give their genes to further the Empire."

"Totally cultural then," she agreed.

"I served with them on the  _Marvel_ ," he said. "It was the first time I met them."

She nodded to herself. "Yeah …Jean and Scott spent their honeymoon in the future raising their son. Really nice guy. Sometimes. If you stick around, he'll pop in sooner or later."

"And here I thought you were too primitive for time travel," Noh-Varr said with a smile.

"Well … the X-Men aren't," she said, one eyebrow raised. "The rest of the world? So not ready for it."

"It is a dangerous advancement for any civilization," he agreed as they headed back inside. "But then, you seem to have collected an impressively advanced field of technology. I noticed Shi'ar components along with your own… flair."

"We have the most amazing technopath; he can merge any tech together. He just … feels how it wants to work."

"That would be helpful," he agreed as they headed back down toward his room.

"Okay. So ... " She shrugged one shoulder up and bit her lip. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

He nodded. "Yes, I'll be attending class to learn about your world," he assured her. "Though of course, I don't believe I'll need your remedial maths like calculus."

"Nobody needs that," Jubilee said with a wave, trying not to laugh at him again.

"Then ... thank you for showing me around. Perhaps sometime I can give you a tour of my ship when it is better healed — and you can understand what I'm saying," Noh said, giving her a warmer smile.

"Yeah, sure. Why not? Sounds like it could be fun," Jubilee agreed. "Then I'll take you to the mall and show you what people our age do for fun."

"Isn't that a place where items are procured? How is that fun?" Noh-Varr asked with his nose scrunched up. "You simply … get what you need, don't you?"

"Oh, sweet space man, no," she said, shaking her head. "That … that is how Scott shops. No."

"But it's… inefficient otherwise," Noh-Varr pointed out.

"Yes, but sometimes inefficient is fun too," she said. "How else would you fit in noodles and walks on the beach?"

He tipped his head to the side and then nodded. "Alright. Let's go to the mall, then."

"See you in the morning!" she called out as she popped up on her wheels and headed down the hall, still unable to stop the smile at how fun — and funny — their new visitor from the stars could be.


	6. Mind Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jean realizes just how vulnerable Noh's mind is to outside influences. And she is not happy about it.

 

* * *

 

Noh-Varr hadn't been too impressed with some of the classes so far — they were either remedial at best compared to his level of technology or else they seemed pointless, like English, since he already knew the language. He  _had,_ however, enjoyed talking to Hank McCoy about his theories on genetics, though the science itself was behind his own. History was fascinating, because it provided Noh an insight into the planet he was currently visiting. And of course, the combat class was absolutely wonderful; he loved the fact that Logan and K were pushing their students. It was a lot like home.

But the first class that he actually did poorly on was, to his surprise, psychic defense. Jean had been properly mortified to find that Noh's philosophy on telepathy was the complete opposite of Earth's. His mind was completely open so that his crew and Plex could be installed, after all, but here, it seemed that the point was to hide away thoughts and separate minds.

"There are just … so many people here that would take advantage of this," she told him, looking almost horrified when he had explained his own version of psychic defense — protecting the mental links between crew members, not closing off entirely. "I'm sure it's perfectly in order with things in your dimension … but here …"

Noh-Varr frowned at her. "You have such backwards ideas about mind sharing."

"I don't mean just here on Earth, either," she tried to explain, still looking horrified.

"Yes, I am sure the Shi'ar are a problem, as are other threats—"

She shook her head. "Not just Shi'ar …" She let out a sigh. "It's not the same here."

"You want me to close my mind and close the possibilities of cooperation." He raised a single eyebrow as he considered her. "That seems backwards, to my view — and borders on rude."

"I want you to learn to be able to close it when someone attacks your mind," she clarified. "I don't want you to close out what you want — just the negative and those that would try to use you."

He considered her for a moment before he finally nodded. "I suppose, if that is how things are done in this reality, I could at least learn the techniques." He shook his head. "It just seems so backwards to me, not to be open."

"I'm sure it does," Jean agreed. "And to be honest, I don't know what I'd do without the link I have with Scott. I know what it is you're missing — and how effortless it is when it's there. You must be hurting without it."

Noh-Varr looked surprised her way for a second. No one here had brought up the ache that had been sitting in his mind ever since he arrived — though, of course, no one had known how much it hurt. How could they know, unless they had experienced what it was like to be  _one_ with not only Plex but the crew and the ship itself?

Where there had been dozens of voices, there was silence. Where there had been a guiding hand in Plex and the Supremor, there was silence. All around him was quiet, and it was only one more reminder of everyone he had lost.

Grief… grief didn't cover what it was he felt. He was alone, abandoned, isolated, in a sea of unfamiliarity. Not even his new friends could alleviate that feeling — that he was drifting and aimless and so very alone.

He let his shoulders drop and nodded. "There's… nothing there," he said slowly. "Where there used to be a consciousness of millions."

"I only saw a glimpse … but it seems overwhelming even with what I saw."

"It's not, really, but I was born into it," Noh-Varr said with a small smile. "This world is so  _quiet_. Deafeningly so. You're all so separated."

She smiled. "We are, but there is a good reason for that," Jean said before she concentrated just a bit and first projected to him,  _Our world isn't designed for how you were created._  With that, she gave him the opportunity to 'hear' what nearly every person for a five mile radius was thinking at that moment — not that he was able to differentiate one from another.

For that one moment, his eyes went wide, and he almost stumbled back before he shook his head when she let up the glimpse of the others. "What…"

"That was just five miles out," she told him. "I can go much wider if you'd like."

"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "That… that was chaotic. Contradictory." He looked completely stunned and confused. "I don't understand. How do you  _survive_ as a species? You don't know what you want!"

She gave him a soft smile. "We learn that slowly."

He put a hand to his head and shook it hard. "You're right — you could never be joined the way I'm used to. You would derail each other in a second."

She smiled a little wider at him. "So … psychic defense?"

He nodded. "Yes, I think that would be prudent."

"Then I think … I'm sorry, but I don't think you're ready for this class," Jean said with an honestly disappointed look. "But you and I can go to Charles, and we can work together."

He frowned at that. "This class is for learning psychic defense."

"It is. But if you would like me to demonstrate a light attack, then you'll see how you need an advocate with you to start." She tipped her head to the side. "It's a lot like learning any new fighting style. Sometimes it's good to start with a partner fighting with you."

Noh-Varr nodded. "That does make sense," he agreed, though he didn't look happy about it.

"Don't worry, I'll be on your side," she told him.

He nodded and even gave her a little smile. "I don't doubt that. If what you say is true, then if you were not on my side, I believe I would know by now."

"You would," she agreed with a smirk that bordered on a crooked smile. "On the other hand … Jubilee and her adoptive family are naturally hard to get into."

"Her… adoptive family?"

"Jubilee is an orphan," Jean told him as they headed toward Charles' office. "Logan and K treat her like their own. Usually."

"Ah." Noh nodded his understanding.

"You can't tell from the population here, but people on this planet usually raise their children into adulthood."

Noh-Varr seemed to think it over. "We were simply born — well, emerged from growth chambers — at an age where we could serve the Empire," he said.

"Then you'd likely find our methods barbaric," she said.

"A bit," he admitted with his own small smile. "I know other worlds where natural families are the norm. But we have no such things as orphans on my world. Everyone is part of the collective group.  _That_ is what seems more barbaric to me."

"Well, this planet is made of small families that raise their children as they see fit. Sometimes … the parents are lost or killed — or the children given away. Most of the adults here … well. You'll see if you're around for long at all. We're very protective of little ones."

Noh-Varr nodded. "You should be. They aren't developed enough to be without. Even I know that much."

She couldn't help but smile to herself as they reached Charles' office — and he projected out for them to enter before either could knock. "Charles, I was hoping we could do some psychic plane work for Noh's self defense," she said as they walked in.

"I am apparently a remedial student," Noh-Varr said with a self-deprecating smile.

Jean gave his arm a gentle squeeze and shot him an encouraging smile. "We're going to help you with that."

Charles smiled warmly at both of them. "Of course," he said, then turned to Noh. "I think it's best if we begin by looking within your mind — to see what it is that needs strengthening and where our efforts can best be focused."

Noh nodded, opening his hands widely. "That much, I can do."

Charles nodded at that. "Then, let's see what there is to defend, shall we?" With that, he guided the three of them into Noh's mind.

The mindscape that Jean and Charles were able to see was in itself a whole new view of things for both of them. It was just recognizably Kree enough to know that the setting was Hala, but it wasn't anything like the world that they had visited before. Everything was flush with warm light and decorated in vibrant greens and blues and white. It was all angular, every building fitting into the next like puzzle pieces, the streets and pathways following straight lines.

It was perfectly crisp and clean and spotless, everything funneled in one direction toward the center of the city, though as they walked toward the center, they finally came across something that simply didn't belong in the clean white surroundings.

It looked as if something had once been there — something huge and imposing that took up the better part of a few hundred yards in any direction. But instead, there was only the jagged edge of a gaping hole, with no bottom in sight.

Noh-Varr frowned when he saw it. "I'm not sure I understand," he said. "This is my Hala, but this doesn't belong here."

"What does belong there?" Charles asked.

"On the physical world where I come from, this would be where the Supreme Intelligence, as you'd call it, is housed," he said. "Each ship has a Plex that links us back to it, and we're linked to the Plex. Or… I was." He frowned and continued to pace the edge of the hole.

"So this is the gap in your consciousness," Jean said. "What's no longer there."

Noh-Varr nodded slowly. "It must be," he agreed, then turned to frown back at the cityscape they'd walked through. "Everything leads to this point. And now…" He shook his head and sat down nearby. "Now, there is nothing."

"You can rebuild much of this," Charles told him.

"With what minds?" Noh-Varr asked. "This reality is closed. There is no one to step in here."

"You can rebuild it for yourself," Jean said. "It wouldn't make it any less possible to reconnect should you find yourself back in your own universe."

"But it would make it possible to learn to defend my mind," he surmised. "I suppose I cannot defend an endless hole." He turned to the other two. "I don't know where to start," he admitted. "Everything I am was directed by the Empire. How do I begin defense when what is here was the very heart of who I am?"

"We can help you … you just need to decide how you want to go forward, and as you do so … the hole will close up," Charles told him. "I've seen much worse."

Noh-Varr looked surprised to hear it but nodded all the same. "I… want to go to Hala and find a purpose again. Is that helpful at all?"

"It may be," Charles replied. "And Jean and I may be able to help you to contact them without going all the way there."

Noh-Varr seemed to brighten at that. "That would be ideal. I need guidance; I'm not sure what to do here on this world."

"Then I'll start; Jean can help us to project that far. Concentrate on your message," Charles told him.

Noh nodded and closed his eyes.  _I am Noh-Varr of the Kree Gestalt ship Marvel. I have come from another reality and crashed on this Earth and seek to serve the Empire here, but I don't know how._

Charles and Jean both shared a small look at the nature of the message — neither of them was entirely comfortable with Noh's request for  _orders_ — but the boy was so determined that they relayed it to him.

To their surprise, the response seemed to echo from within the gaping chasm that they were standing beside when it did come:  _This earth is and shall ever be protected by the Empire. You are part of this Empire, and thus, you are never alone. You will be empowered to act and have the power to act to protect this world, and know that the empire is watching you. You are no longer alone in this universe._

When the message came through, Noh-Varr seemed to visibly relax, looking completely relieved to have a directive, even if it was just to stay put for a while and protect this planet. But more interesting to Jean and Charles was the fact that the gaping chasm seemed to have a bottom to it now, just a few feet below them.

"Thank you," Noh-Varr said, looking up at the other two with an expression that bordered on the most emotional they had seen him, drawing their attention from the hole back to the young man.

Jean and Charles glanced at each other one more time before they left his mind together, and Noh-Varr followed, still looking like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. "Thank you," he said again, offering his hand to Jean in that same trusting manner as before.

"We only want to help you find yourself," Charles said, though the warmth was gone from his smile as he considered the situation. It was clear that the Kree had established a foothold in Noh's mind, and considering the design of his mindscape, they had made themselves comfortable where his drive and purpose was housed.

Noh had come from a universe that directed him, and the Kree of this universe were clearly more than happy to take advantage of a willing drone.

The session ended quickly after that, with Charles assuring Noh that he had seen enough to begin to formulate a plan for his defense. But he didn't voice his thoughts until Noh was back in class with Jubilee, and Jean's eyes were flashing with fire by the time the boy was out of earshot.

"I think that you should continue private coaching on his defenses," she said to Charles. "You've got more experience — and I'd like to wait before revealing anything."

"It will take some time," Charles replied softly. "To give him his freedom." It was clear that he too, was seething over the teenager's misuse, but already Charles was forming a plan on how to try to repair the damage. Finally, Charles looked up at Jean and forced a smile into place. "Let's just hope that we can do what is required before the Supreme Intelligence decides to reassign him."

"If it happens too soon, I'll be sure to join him. Even if the ship is lost, I can return on my own," she decided. "I can't help but feel that Hala wouldn't be under Shi'ar rule had I not been afraid of them the first time we met. Perhaps they wouldn't feel so desperate."

"And beyond that, it would be beneficial for you to go with him to prevent the damage from worsening," Charles said with his chin resting on his clasped hands.

"It won't go any further," she said.

"No," he agreed. "It won't."

* * *

After leaving Charles' office, Jean made a point to reach out to her best options for stress relief that didn't involve the man in her life, and by the time she got to the kitchen, both Ororo and K were meeting up to join her for a drink off grounds.

"What's the plan?" K asked, "Aside from keeping you two from getting too wasted and getting you home without any flying incidents?"

"Isn't that enough?" Ororo asked with a sly smile as the guys came up from the Danger Room, already discussing possible outcomes and how to get Noh prepared to join the team — at least temporarily.

"He's already been trained for combat — we just need to train him on how to work with us, and how to hold back," Scott was saying, clearly already on board with their new find.

"Take your sweet time with that," Jean said as she pulled her coat on. "That's not going to happen for a while."

Scott looked up at Jean with an honest look of surprise. "I thought he was here for a while."

"He is," she said.  _But he isn't going to be ready for that until we address a few major issues._

Scott tipped his head her way.  _What's wrong?_

 _Major security breach for starters._ Jean looked more irritated, and a blush rose up in her cheeks that only happened when she was outright mad.  _And a controlling presence that he is designed to follow no matter what._

 _Designed?_ Scott frowned Jean's way.  _I don't like the sound of that._

 _It's ingrained into his psyche,_  she told him before she made her way over to wrap her arms around his waist and snuggle in for a moment.  _And he has no concept of free will. At all._

Scott almost absently kissed her forehead and then frowned a little deeper.  _So if he's not in his home reality, who is controlling him?_ He asked.  _I thought he said he was disconnected to everyone._

She made a little noise of irritation in the back of her throat.  _He was. He wanted to go to Hala, and we helped him phone home. The Supreme Intelligence answered and basically told him to park it until the Empire tells him to roll over and beg._ "I'm going out with the girls for a few hours. Hope you don't mind too much. I know it's short notice."  _But if I don't go and relax, I'm going to go full on firebird on those idiots._

Scott nodded. "That's fine. I need to talk to the professor anyhow," he said.  _You said you both were there for the message. I think I'd like to hear the details._

She looked up with a little smile and stole a kiss. "You're wonderful. Have fun."

With that, Scott kissed her back for a second before he headed off to Charles' office, curious on just how bad this 'controlling presence' from the Supreme Intelligence could be — though even with the affectionate routine, they were fooling absolutely none of their friends as to what they had been up to.

"Psychic makeout session?" K muttered to Ororo.

"Not a very long one," she replied. "And not very sneaky either."

The three women were almost out the door when Jubilee and Noh-Varr came running up to them, holding hands as usual. "Are you guys headed out?" Jubilee asked.

"We're taking the Jeep," K told her. "What is your need, sweet sparkles?"

"Noh-Varr's never been to the mall," she said. "And he  _needs_ to experience the  _right_ way to shop."

"A mission of mercy," Ororo mused. "Do you have Remy's credit card?"

"Do you?" Jubilee shot back.

"What a question," she replied before she dug into her purse and handed over a black card. "I have another for us, of course."

"Of course," Jubilee said, matching her tone exactly before she turned to Noh-Varr. "Always depend on the weather goddess, Noh. That's just a fact of life."

"I'll try to remember that," he said with a light smile and a nod.

The little group piled into the Jeep and headed out, and while they had hours before closing time, the women simply dropped the two teenagers off and headed off with instructions on where to be at closing time. In the meantime, the adults were going to drink — at least until Jean felt less like burning the Supreme Intelligence to ashes.

"So," Noh-Varr said, turning to Jubilee. "What is it we need to purchase?"

"Clothes for you … you really can't wear the same thing every day," Jubilee said. "More clothes for me ... because a girl can never have too many yellow trench coats … and  _music_ for both of us because … well. We can."

He looked down at the white and green he was wearing and let out a sigh. "Yes, well, I suppose there is some logic to that," he said, taking her hand again as they kept walking. "And you do not wear your uniform at all times."

"Well … I don't really wear a uniform?" Jubilee said. "Cramps my style a lil bit."

"But you are on a team," he pointed out.

"I am," she agreed. "But I'm what they are calling 'junior league'... you know … now that there are enough younger people to put on a team together. Whatever. I was with the grown ups before the kiddie team started."

"Then you are leading the junior team?" he asked. "If they assigned you to those with less experience, that must be the case."

"More or less," she said with a shrug. "Usually, we have to follow whoever joins us from the senior team — which isn't bad most of the time."

"Hmm." Noh-Varr tipped his head to the side. "I wonder… if I were to ask to join the team while I am here, which I would be considered to be — junior or senior. I was just an ensign, after all."

"Prolly depends on how you test in," she told him. "See … the prof wanted to make sure I wasn't being rushed into being grown up. As if that didn't already happen before I met up with the X-gang anyhow."

"Ah, then I am probably not the best person to test into such a situation, since I emerged fully-grown from my growth chamber," he pointed out.

"Awww, that's a shame," she said, shaking her head. "You probably would have been a cute little kid. I mean, you'd have  _nothing_ on me; I was precious. But not … not bad."

Noh-Varr laughed. "I suppose I might have been," he said as he followed Jubilee into the clothing section of the store.

"Just … start looking for the colors you like," she advised — shooing him with one hand. "And we'll figure out what size you are."

He raised an eyebrow her way but started to wander through the different racks of clothing, which let Jubilee get a few minutes to find some cute things for herself. By the time she got back to him, though, she was surprised to see his eclectic collection of just about everything white or green or black.

"You… said to find the colors I like," he said simply.

"I did," she agreed before she looked at him and held up a shirt, only to shake her head and pick up the next size up. "You'll need to try these on first." She waved for him to follow her. "Changing room back here."

"I did try to find pieces that visually matched by build, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus on the labels as to proper sizing," he said, sounding annoyed.

She smiled up at him. "Tell me about it. It's even worse in the women's department."

"That… is incredibly inefficient," Noh-Varr said.

"And  _irritating_ ," she agreed. "Not everyone is stacked like a supermodel."

"Considering the prefix super-, I would think that would be obvious," he said as he took a handful of clothes into the changing room to try them on.

"Oh, you're amazing, Mr. Spock," she giggled. "And so right."

"That is not my name," Noh-Varr called back from the dressing room.

But that just had her laughing harder. "I promise I'll show you what I'm talking about when we get back, okay? But it so fits you."

"So… this is a nickname? Like 'Charles' for Charlie?"

"Yes," she giggled. "But Charlie is the nickname for Charles. He doesn't like it when Logan and K call him that. He prefers his whole name."

"Then why do they call him that? They obviously like him."

"Mostly to irritate him," she said. "They like to pick on the people they like."

Noh-Varr shook his head as he stepped out in black jeans and a white tee shirt. "Is this passable?" he asked.

She had her arms crossed over her chest as she waved him forward. "Spin around please …"

He shrugged and held out his arms to spin around.

"Are you comfortable?" she asked. "Because it looks like it might be almost tight."

"That's how clothes are fitted," he said.

"You think so? Different fabrics need different cuts. Bend over to touch your toes and tell me if it's comfy."

He smiled at her and bent over first forward and then backward all the way to touch his toes again. "Hmm, you're right. It doesn't quite stretch as much as I do."

She was grinning and very clearly on the verge of laughing still. "It really doesn't. Shameful."

He tried on a few more pairs of black slacks and jeans as well as a variety of green and white tees before they packed up to head out, this time for the music store.

The two of them looked through the CD selections, but obviously, since Noh-Varr was new to the reality, he didn't have any clue who any of the artists were, so he was simply reading some of the song titles and looking over the artwork.

Jubilee took a moment and watched him cluelessly pick up one album after another before she set her CD down and guided him over to a listening station. "This really only has the newest stuff on it … but it should give you an idea of what you're looking at. The artwork … hardly ever tells you anything."

"Your whole world is filled with inefficiencies," he told her with a smile as he sat down at the station.

"Shut up and embrace it," she laughed as she handed him the headphones.

He pulled the headphones down over his ears, and almost instantly, he lit up like a Christmas tree, grinning widely as he listened to the song playing over the headphones. He cycled through a few different songs — Boyz II Men, Bryan Adams, that sort of thing — and he only seemed to get more excited with each one before he took off the headphones and looked over at Jubilee. "We don't have  _anything_ like this where I am from," he told her.

"Well of course not, it's inefficient," she teased.

"It's wonderful," he countered. "Some of these harmonies… they  _move_ through you."

"That is how music works," she told him. "And if you like that … you'll love dance class."

"I think I will have to try it," he agreed. "And… I will need more varieties of music. There are a lot of genres in this store, and you said this station was only newer music."

"Oh, that … is really just pop," she told him. "There is a lot more than that. Some of the other stations have other stuff … hard rock is over there … and some oldies …"

Noh-Varr grinned outright at that, making his way through the different stations — though it was clear he had a favorite when he practically parked at the oldies station, the grin widening the longer he sat there and listened until finally Jubilee had to practically drag him away from it — and leave with a whole stack of oldies for him to listen to, since obviously he liked it.

He was still grinning over the CDs as they grabbed some smoothies to have while they waited for the older X-Men to come get them. "This is good too," he said, shaking his smoothie a bit.

"I will never give you something that isn't worth having," Jubilee pointed out.

"I didn't think I would like the artificial sweeteners, but the texture and the taste are … fun," he said with a little smile.

She smiled at him and couldn't help but shake her head. "So. Is the big, bad, inefficient mall anywhere as bad as you imagined?"

He laughed. "No, I can see the appeal," he said. "Perhaps not in the ridiculous clothing debacle, but in the other stores."

"Well now that we know your sizes, it'll be easier if you need anything else," Jubilee pointed out as the Jeep pulled up with their ride. All three of the ladies were smiling, through once the kids climbed in, Jean seemed to get a little more somber, though not entirely. She was leaning against the window and muttering under her breath about a firebird while she made half-hearted gestures with her hands miming an explosion.

"Did you kids have fun?" K asked as they headed out.

"Yes," Noh-Varr said, grinning over at Jubilee. "Jubilee showed me 'oldies' music."

"How far back is considered oldies now?" K asked.

"Um, sixties-ish," Jubilee said.

K let out a noise of disbelief. "Ridiculous."

"It is not," Noh-Varr said. "I thought it might be, but the harmonies and the way the sounds are woven into each other…."

K gave him a dry look in the rearview mirror and flipped on the radio to tune into a station playing tunes from the forties. "This is from the forties — and it's not oldies either," K said.

Noh leaned forward with both of his eyebrows high as he listened to the music. "I like this style," he said. "You can feel this one too — in your teeth and your skin."

"It's not even turned up," Ororo said. "Not like in dance."

Noh-Varr waved a hand at her. "I can hear very well."

"Let's not play that game," K replied. "For some of these, it's nice to feel it rather than hear it."

Noh-Varr nodded. "That makes sense," he said before he looked K's way. "I think I would like to be in dance class — who do I speak to for that?"

"Me," she said as she looked at Jubilee, who was giving her a pleading look. "Jubes knows when class is."

"Wonderful," Noh-Varr said with a genuine smile directed Jubilee's way. "I think music is an inefficiency I can support," he added just for her.

"Well that's one …" she replied with a teasing smirk.

"It won't be the last one he supports," Jean sang out.

"I can _not_ support the inefficiency of clothing sizes," he said. "They are not standardized in the least."

"They are not," K agreed before she turned to Ororo with a smirk. "We should all follow the goddess' example and say to hell with them all together." She looked over her shoulder at Jean. "We just have one hold out."

"Ah, well, as I've learned recently, it is not a gathering of Terrans until one of you disagrees," Noh-Varr said, sounding perfectly matter-of-fact about it.

"Honey, you're so wrong," K said, chuckling to herself. "We don't need to gather to do that."

He laughed out loud at that. "This is true," he agreed, earning a little eye-roll from Jubilee and a smirk from Jean.

When they got back to the mansion, K made sure to help Jean out of the Jeep and let the redhead lean on her as they headed inside until she found Jean's waiting husband. "Scott … We had a pretty good time, and Jean is one hell of a cheater on the pool table after four or five shots of tequila. So you know."

"Trust me; I married her, I know," he said with a smirk as he let Jean lean on him a bit, though when she simply leaned in more and kissed him, the smirk widened, and he picked her up to carry her.

"I may have encouraged her to keep going," K sang out. "Have a nice night."

"You too," Scott said, still grinning as he carried the overly affectionate Jean off.


	7. Feel the Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Noh is learning a little more about choosing his own path, and that path involves shirtless dancing, clearly.

 

* * *

 

Jubilee really was enjoying showing her brand new alien friend around. It was always a complete mystery how he would take any new thing that he learned — sometimes, he would decide it was an inefficiency he could support, sometimes he dismissed it altogether, and sometimes he put his own spin on things in the weirdest way, like eating candy in the wrapper. Either way, Jubilee was totally enjoying coming up with more and more new things to introduce to him just so she could see how he would react this time.

And of course, it didn't hurt that he was  _totally_ cute and that he was adorable with his hand-holding.

So when she got back in from the night out at the mall with Noh-Varr, she wasn't surprised at all when Paige just  _had_ to ask her all about it.

"It was  _not_ a date," Jubilee said for about the fiftieth time.

"You went to the mall together," Paige pointed out, grinning wider the more she thought about it. "You had smoothies!"

"He's never had smoothies. Or shopping," Jubilee argued, shaking her head. "I'm just trying to show him what  _fun_ is!"

"Oh I'm sure," Paige giggled. "But he is cute, isn't he?"

"Well, yeah, duh, I'm not  _blind_ ," Jubilee said with a little smile. "And he's hilarious."

Paige just grinned at that and nodded. "So when are you going on an  _actual_ date?" she asked.

"Probably never," Jubilee said, leaning back with her hands behind her head and her lips pushed out in a slight frown. "Seeing as he wants to go to Hala as soon as his ship is fixed."

Paige turned over to face Jubilee for a moment, frowning slightly at her friend before she simply nodded. "Yeah, that would definitely be a problem."

"But there is  _no_ way I'm going to let him live on Planet Earth and not know how to go to the  _mall_."

At that, Paige couldn't help but laugh and nod along. "Well, duh, that's a given."

But while that was all Paige needed to know to get on board with helping Jubilee brainstorm other things that he needed to learn — she, too, was completely on board with the idea of introducing him to  _Star Trek_ so that he could get the Mr. Spock references — not everyone at the school was happy about Jubilee's new little shadow.

"So, when are you going to clue him in that holding hands isn't  _just_ a way to show trust?" Monet asked the next day after Noh-Varr had split off to go meet with Charles again while Jubilee was in her psychic defense class. "Or are you enjoying taking advantage?"

Jubilee felt a flush rise up in her cheeks as she drew herself up to face Monet. "You don't know what you're talking about," she said.

Monet smirked at Jubilee. "I know it's the only way you could get him to hold your hand — which is why you're not telling him the truth."

"Back off, Monet," Paige cut in, her arms crossed over her chest. "You're just jealous you don't have a cute alien boy following you around."

Monet glared Paige's way. "Like I'd be jealous of an  _accident_. He's only following her because she happened to be there with K. That's who he  _actually_ trusts. Her and Kurt. Or didn't you notice?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Paige shot back.

"I know exactly what I'm talking about," Monet said evenly and without dropping Paige's gaze.

Jubilee and Paige both looked like they were ready to pounce on the other girl, but before they could get too involved, Jean arrived to start the class.

"Saved by the bell," Jubilee grumbled under her breath, earning a little smirk from Paige.

* * *

While Jubilee was in class, Noh-Varr headed down the opposite hall toward Charles' office, wearing the headphones Jubilee had bought him with Remy's credit card after she'd seen how much he loved the music there. He was particularly enjoying the group Queen and had been listening to a CD of their hits all the way down the hallway, smiling to himself the whole way.

Of course, he was slightly hampered by the fact that he was only listening to the music through the headphones over his ears. He was sure that it would be far more enjoyable if he was able to listen to it  _fully_ , involving the tympanic membrane that ran over his entire skin. But he didn't want to add to the chaos that the Terrans already felt everywhere around them by bringing more noise to the situation, so instead, he kept his headphones on.

He couldn't help moving along to the beat of the music, his footfalls in time with the downbeats. And he didn't even realize that his head was moving slightly, bouncing along to the beat as well. He had no idea how much he looked like a normal Earth teenager in that moment, in jeans and a tee shirt bopping along to music.

He put the music away when he got to Charles' office, of course, since he wanted to give this defense his full attention. After all, he had  _never_ been a remedial student before, and he wanted to rectify the situation as quickly as possible. It just wasn't acceptable to him. And besides that, if he was going to serve the Kree Empire here on Earth, he needed to be sure that no influences against the Empire were able to creep into his mind.

Charles smiled warmly at him when he arrived at the office and gestured for him to take a seat. "You seem to be in excellent spirits this afternoon," he said.

Noh-Varr smiled widely. "Jubilee took me to the mall last night," he explained. "It was… not quite what I expected." He smiled even wider. "And the music store there had the most amazing stations allowing me to listen to a selection of your sounds… we don't have anything like your music where I'm from!"

Charles couldn't help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm, especially because it was the first thing he had truly expressed any interest in outside of his appointed mission. "Then I'm truly glad you have been able to experience it."

Noh-Varr nodded. "I've asked to be placed in K's dance class," he said. "I'm told that is a good way to feel music."

"It is," Charles said, still with that same smile that he simply couldn't help. "And I'm glad to see you discovering your own interests here. That will certainly help to fill the gap in your consciousness."

Noh-Varr looked honestly delighted to hear it. "I would not mind in the least if my mind were filled with music."

Still unable to stop smiling, Charles directed the young man back into his mindscape so that they could get down to work on his defenses.

It was just as they had left it the day before, pristine and white with splashes of green and blue in the angular buildings, but Noh-Varr seemed surprised when they got to the gaping hole in his mind to see that there was a bottom to it now. He clearly hadn't paid it much heed the last time, too relieved to have directions from the Supreme Intelligence, but now, he had his head tipped to the side as he studied it, and Charles watched him carefully.

"Yes, I think I understand," Noh-Varr said at last, turning back to Charles. "I've reconnected to the Kree here, but they are not as advanced as my people back home. It's not the same connection I once had."

"No," Charles agreed carefully, watching the young man work it out for himself. "What you had was for more immersive."

"There was once a building here," Noh-Varr said, gesturing with one hand to the gap, "taller than any of the surrounding buildings, so that it stretched up into the sky nearly beyond the range of vision."

"Then there is still much work to be done," Charles agreed. "And you will have to do it on your own."

Noh-Varr nodded. "Yes, there isn't anything in this reality that quite… matches it."

Charles frowned as he watched the young man patrolling the edges of his open mind. He knew that the pressing issue of the Supreme Intelligence filling Noh-Varr's mind absolutely needed to be addressed, but he had to proceed carefully. It was obvious the boy thought he  _wanted_ that presence in his mind, and any attempt to remove its influence would, at this point, be met with resistance. And Charles simply couldn't in good conscience let the boy run away from them, not when he was so obviously ripe for misuse.

The longer Charles stood in the boy's mindscape, the more obvious it was to him that this had been done purposefully. The angular nature of the boy's mind, the artificial constructs, the way everything led to this central point — it was clear that his people had engineered him in more ways than one.

And yet it was also clear the boy was capable of independent thought; he wasn't a simple drone. The very fact that he was listening to music and signing up for dance was encouraging — and one of the first signs of anything outside of his stated 'mission.' And Scott had told Charles how much the young man had enjoyed the Danger Room. So he was capable of knowing what he liked and disliked.

It was simply a monumental matter of determining those interests separate from the ones the Kree had instilled in him.

"I can work with you to close this gap, but much of it is going to be up to you," Charles told him as Noh-Varr came to a stop close by. "I will not fill your mind with things of my own choosing. You have to choose what you want."

Noh-Varr turned an obvious frown Charles' way. "Like… music?" he asked after a long moment spent working it out. As Jean had said, the boy had no concept of free will, so this was going to be a daunting project on its own: teaching him how to choose his own path.

Charles nodded. "Yes, and dance, among other things."

Noh-Varr nodded. "And… the X-Men, perhaps," he said.

Charles raised an eyebrow the boy's way. "The X-Men?" he repeated.

Noh-Varr nodded again, looking as if this was perfectly obvious. "It's my understanding in the little time I have spent here that your mission is to establish peace on this planet — peaceful coexistence, as you have said. That would seem to be in line with my own mission to protect this planet while I am here."

"Yes, that's true," Charles said. He met the young man's gaze and was surprised to see the earnest expression there for an instant before he gestured to the huge hole that was still there. "But there is still plenty of work to be done before we can consider it."

For an instant, Noh-Varr's shoulders slumped, but he recovered quickly. "Yes," he said slowly, "I can see the logic there. You cannot have anyone on your team with such a vulnerability."

"I'm more concerned for your welfare," Charles told him honestly. "I know Jean told you that there are people in this reality that would take full advantage of how open your mind is." As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the deep hole before he shook his head and turned back to Noh-Varr. "My concern is that you are able to function here — as yourself."

"Then we should get to work," Noh-Varr agreed.

* * *

Noh-Varr was one of the last people to arrive at K's dance class, running a bit behind from his session with Charles. But considering how fast he could run — on the ceiling — he still got there in time and shot K a little smile as she was setting up the music before he came to stand by Jubilee with a grin.

"What are we dancing to today?" he asked easily, looking around the room to see that each of the students was out of their usual casual attire — the girls in dresses and the boys in nice, button-up shirts. So once again, he stuck out—- though he hadn't known about the dress code.

"That … is up to Monet today," K answered as she adjusted her shoes.

"K lets us take turns picking the music," Jubilee explained.

Monet smirked a bit as she slid over to K to hand her the CD she had picked out. " _Mi Gente_ ," she said.

"Salsa then," K said with a nod. "Great pick, but … you're going to have to try and loosen up for this one, M. Your usual uptight, overly-straight self simply won't be able to pull off a smooth salsa otherwise."

Jubilee grinned at that — especially because K cycled through the guys in the house for partners... and it was Scott's turn for that lesson. "This is going to be great," she whispered to Noh, bouncing slightly on the tips of her toes.

"Alright, ladies — get your heels on if you want to do it right," K said, though she was already set to go. "Boys, start stretching a little. You need to be relaxed."

The class split up down boy-girl lines to get ready, though Scott was already smirking to himself as he offered K a hand so they could do a demo. "Ready when you are," he said.

"I can see that," she said quietly, her head turned away from the kids. "Talk about the right day to do this one." She gave the kids just a moment to get back in place before walking them through every step of it — from how to stand and where everyone's hands went to the basic steps to begin. Once all the kids were doing the basics, she gave Scott a little nod so he could lead the way to dive into something a little more advanced. The same steps were used, but of course, there was a bit of flourish, and through the whole thing, Scott was smirking to himself.

"Gee, fearless, I didn't even know you could  _do_ that," Jubilee giggled delightedly when they were done before she looked Monet's way. "Not even a little bit stiff. So what's your excuse?"

Monet shot Jubilee a glare before she sniffed and took Everett by the hand. "Come on," she muttered his way.

Jubilee was still grinning to herself when Noh-Varr offered her his hand, and they started to practice a few of the basic steps, with the whole class pairing off.

"I guess I need to take Jean out drinking more often," K told Scott with a smirk. "What … three, four times a week? Maybe?"

Scott shook his head at her. "She needed to get out," he said without looking her way.

"Mmmhmmm," K said — long and drawn out. "So five then?"

At that, he did turn to face her, this time with a dry look. "I don't need your help."

"I know," she replied looking perfectly insulted. "The truth is I like to see you two happy, and she was having  _fun._ "

"So was I," he said perfectly straightfaced.

"Then next time, I'll take  _you_ drinking," she replied.

"Whatever you say, K."

"Well if you'd rather go with Logan instead …"

Scott gave her a dry look. "We're here to have fun, aren't we?" he said. "How about another dance."

"Please," she agreed. "Everyone follow the music," K called out for the class. "You should all have an idea of what you're doing by now."

The different pairs of kids were already nodding, ready to try out some of the different steps, though there was a bit of a hitch in the whole lesson when the music started, and for some reason none of the others could tell, Noh-Varr simply slipped his shirt off over his shoulders before he offered his hand to Jubilee — who just stared at him like he'd lost his mind.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He shrugged openly at her. "Following the music," he said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "I can hear it better this way."

"Makes it harder for some of the rest of us to hear though," Paige muttered.

Noh-Varr looked around the group and frowned before he stooped to pick up his shirt. "If I've done something wrong, it wasn't my intention," he said slowly. "I just wanted to follow the music — and I can feel it in my skin…"

"Okay, but for this class ... we dress  _up_ ," Jubilee tried to explain, even though she was clearly fighting back giggles and not really bothering to hide where her gaze was going.

Noh frowned at her for a moment before he shook his head and pulled the shirt back over his head. "Inefficient, again. How can you feel the music when you're covering your skin so you can't feel it move through you?" He looked honestly confused.

"You didn't do anything wrong," K called out. "In fact … it's fairly common in the dance clubs in Cuba to go shirtless or with an open shirt. Appropriate for the steps."

Noh-Varr turned her way and still looked confused. "But not for this class?" he asked.

"I don't know," K said, though she shot Scott a little smirk. "Might not be a bad practice."

"You're hilarious," Scott said.

"Probably best for performances," K said, still smiling.

"That would make sense," Noh offered. "If you are performing, you need to feel the music at its fullest."

"I don't think it's quite the same for us," Scott said with his head tipped to the side Noh's way. "You said you could hear it better?"

Noh nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Everyone here's better'n half deaf anyhow," K muttered.

The little alien boy turned her way with a smile. "Is that a side product of the genetic advancements?"

"No, it's a mark of how far behind their senses are from mine," she said at almost a whisper.

He simply nodded and matched her volume. "Then you are ahead of the curve."

"That is often the case," she said, smiling wider. "Though I don't need to lose my clothes to hear better. Sadly."

He shrugged. "It's not  _necessary_ , but it does help to clear the path."

"I doubt that line will work for me, all the same."

"Then what is it that aids your senses? Don't tell me you only hear with your ears."

"I do," she answered. "And you?"

He was shaking his head already. "I can use my ears, but I have a tympanic membrane stretched over my skin."

"Then you probably end up with a nasty headache when you're cut too," she guessed.

"Well, yes, but I don't feel it," he said, waving it off.

"I wish I could say the same. A cut is a cut."

"It is," he said. "But it doesn't have to hurt."

K sighed and shook her head with a soft smile. "It does for us."

"Then your species must not have learned to reroute brain waves, I take it."

"No," she answered with a shake of her head. "We learn to ignore it and power through or surrender to it and stop."

He regarded her carefully and nodded. "Yes, well, pain has a place, but I'm sorry that you do not get to choose it."

"You misunderstand," K said. "I do choose it. With every fight. I know what's coming, and I do it anyhow."

He tipped his head a little further to the side and then nodded. "If you all do that, you must be brave indeed. I didn't realize that was the case here."

"I'm sure there are some that don't feel it — but I don't know any of them."

Noh-Varr simply nodded and then smiled at her before he turned back to Jubilee to ask if she'd like to resume the dance — which gave Scott the opportunity to lean over to K. "So… what was that about?"

"A little more insight on what he's capable of," K replied then leaned closer herself. "I'll give you the breakdown later."

Scott nodded for a moment before he offered her his hand again for another dance — since there wasn't anything else he could do while the kids were all in class.


	8. Intergalactic Relations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony Stark is interested in the X-Men's visitor from the stars.

 

* * *

 

It had been almost a week since the X-Men found Noh-Varr before, apparently, Iron Man couldn't wait any longer to sate his curiosity, and he found his way over to the mansion that weekend looking like he'd like nothing more than to get to take apart the tech on the Kree ship in their hangar.

"So," he said, looking a bit disappointed when it was Kurt and not K who came to the door. "How is our new extraterrestrial friend?"

"He seems to be settling in well, how very considerate of you to ask," Kurt replied with a playful sort of smirk.

"Anything I can help with?" he asked, straining to look past him into the mansion.

"You missed dance class," Kurt told him. "So … no. Probably not."

Tony almost laughed at that. "Sure. Yeah. Makes perfect sense. Nonverbal kid, dance class, must be one of the few things he can learn here, right?"

Kurt's smile widened. "I'm sorry, Tony, but I think he speaks English better than you do most days, though he does love dance."

"Wait, what?" Tony shook his head. "I want to talk to him then — since when does he speak English? How?"

"Since he spent a day with Logan and K and Jubilee. He learned quickly."

"Oh, so he growls and calls everyone 'dude'. That's not English."

"I'm not so sure that K would like your estimation of their grasp on the language."

"Hey, I'm just saying, maybe an independent source should make sure he knows that 'awesome' isn't the descriptor for literally everything," Tony pointed out.

"Perhaps," Kurt laughed.

"Plus, you know, we sort of got off on a bad foot," Tony added. "I'm here in the name of intergalactic peace or … something."

"You may need a coach before speaking with him," Kurt advised.

"Well, who do I talk to?"

"Who would you take direction from?"

"Well, who's spent the most time with him?"

"Jubilation, I believe."

"Okay, who else?" Tony asked.

"Logan, K, Scott, Jean, Charles …" He shrugged. "Take your pick."

"Well, is K around?" Tony asked.

"Somewhere," Kurt replied.

"I'll find her," Tony said with a nod. "Sounds like the woman I need to talk to."

Kurt had to laugh. "You think  _you'll_ find her? Good luck with that."

"Okay, then, smart guy. You find her," Tony said, crossing his arms.

Kurt grinned widely. "Stay here." A moment later, he disappeared in a swirl of smoke, leaving Tony standing in the entry, only to return several minutes later with K — who looked like she'd been in the barn.

"Are you lost, Tony?" K asked.

"Never," he said with a grin. "I was just talking to Nightcrawler here, and he said our brand new intergalactic friend speaks English? So I was hoping to reintroduce myself. Got off on the wrong foot. All that."

K frowned lightly and watched him closely for a long moment. "I think … you'll need to clear it with Scott — and then if he okays it, there will be ground rules."

"Just to talk to one kid from the stars?"

"One kid who doesn't quite understand our culture," K clarified. "That I happen to be a titch protective of."

Tony let out a low whistle. "What'd he do to rate the highest protection in the land?"

"Sweet, battered, little lost alien isn't enough on its own?"

Tony raised a finger and bounced it her way. "Good point."

"If you can follow when I cue you to stop … then I'm sure Kurt will get Scott to talk to you."

Tony nodded along. "Sure, sure, sounds like a plan."

"I'll break your hand if you keep pushing him, though."

Tony gave her a brilliant smile. "Me?" He put one hand over his heart. "I haven't pushed him yet, have I?"

"Not really; I just want to lay down some rules even before Scott starts." She gave him an honest smile. "You can handle that, can't you?"

Tony smirked her way. "Whatever the lady wants," he teased.

"Kurt? Please?" K asked, giving the Elf a little crooked smirk, and he didn't need any more prompting than that before he disappeared.

* * *

Down in the hangar, Noh-Varr was working on his ship again, though he was wearing the headphones and listening to the Beach Boys this time. It was his third time through the album, so he had progressed to humming along to some of the songs, and he was surprised by how much the  _Marvel_ was better responding when he came down with music to tool around the ship.

From what he could see, it looked like the ship was going to be smaller than it had been before, what with large chunks of it missing, but it was healing faster than he had anticipated, considering he was the only one left. Maybe it helped that it was stationed under a school full of incredibly emotional teenage Terrans.

Either way, he was pleased with the progress he was making and totally wrapped up in his music, so much so that he almost didn't notice K and Tony arrive if not for the fact that he could hear their footsteps even though his ears were occupied.

He pulled the headphones down to around his neck and turned to face K and the dark-haired man that had been at the crash site of his ship. He narrowed his eyes slightly, but K was holding the man's hand, so he didn't do anything. Yet. "What is happening here?" he asked K, his head tipped to the side.

"Noh-Varr, you haven't been properly introduced to Mr. Stark yet," she said. "And he'd very much like to have a few words with you, if you don't mind."

Noh watched Tony for a moment before he nodded. "Not here," he said.

"I didn't think so," she told him with a little smile. "War Room alright with you?"

"Is it such a dire word?" Noh asked, standing up a little straighter.

"It's the closest room that will serve our purposes," she assured him. "I'll lead you both there."

Noh simply nodded, though he was clearly paying a bit more attention and looked almost ready for a fight once they got there and he simply spun to face Tony. "What is it that you need?" he asked.

K pulled Tony into a chair and gave him a raised eyebrow look before he could get started — still making sure to keep what looked like a gentle hold on him.

"Well," Tony said. "I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. So I wanted to reintroduce myself." He gave Noh a businesslike smile and extended his free hand. "Tony Stark. Pretty much the only one in the running for the top tech industries in the world, member of the Avengers — invincible Iron Man and all that."

"He's being modest," K said with a little smile. " _Almost_. He  _is_ the top guy in tech on this planet by a comfortable margin."

"That's what I said," Tony said with a grin her way.

"Ah." Noh-Varr nodded. "So you must be the reason the X-Men have the technology they do."

"No," K said, tipping her head to one side. "That didn't come from Tony at all."

"Hmm." Noh-Varr tipped his head to the side. "Then I would be interested to see what it is that you develop. If you are the top mind in your field, I would love to compare."

"Did you bring toys, Santa Stark?" K teased.

Tony grinned outright before he held out his hand again, though this time it was to let part of his armor cover his hand as a hologram hovered just over his fingertips, showing off the full armor in an image in front of them. "Do you even have to ask?" he asked K with a smirk.

"I like to, yes."

Noh-Varr leaned forward a bit with his head tipped to the side. "Is this war armor?" he asked, examining the hologram. "Can you enhance it — throw it to the screen here so I can see it better?"

Tony looked disappointed for a second that Noh seemed to take the brand new holographic tech in his stride before he nodded. "Yeah," he said, tossing the hologram up to the screen in the War Room and zooming in on one of the arms. "But it's not war armor. It's one-of-a-kind, designed just for me."

"That seems a bit… limited," Noh-Varr said, his head tipped to the side.

"That's the idea," K agreed. "And in this case, I think he's right to do so."

Noh-Varr turned Tony's way, his eyebrows raised. "Then… why are you keeping this advance from the rest of your species?"

Tony frowned and seemed to think it over. "There isn't just  _one_ reason…" But he looked totally lost for how to even begin.

"Jean mentioned that she let you taste what it was like for her when she lets her guard down, right?" K asked Noh.

He nodded. "She wanted to show me the chaos around us to explain why a hive mind is not possible even for a short period of time."

"The chaos is why it's not wise to hand this kind of armor to the species in general," K said with a little frown.

"Because you are at war with yourselves," Noh-Varr said.

"Because at worst, our species is a pack of violent, self-serving animals. But only some — and they hide far too well to weed out easily."

He frowned her way and then shook his head. "Primitive," he said quietly.

"Very," she agreed.

"And we kind of like the planet in one piece," Tony put in. "That's what the armor is for — it helps me fight the good fight. You know — stop the worst of humanity from destroying the rest of us."

Noh-Varr nodded slowly and glanced K's way. "Then you have the same mission as the X-Men. Peace."

"More or less," Tony said with a nod.

"Then I will help you," Noh-Varr decided. "Our missions are the same, after all."

"Is that so?" Tony asked, looking more interested. "You came all this way for peacekeeping?"

"No," Noh-Varr said, shaking his head. "I was part of an exploration mission. But I have a new mission now, and that is to protect this world. From itself if need be. And since you all seem so bent on self-destruction… I will help the peacekeeping forces here."

"Tony needs help with stopping self-destructive tendencies, don't you?" K teased with a smile.

Tony gave her a dry look. "That's… not why I came over."

"Then what is the issue here?" Noh asked.

"Tony, when an alien sweetpea wants to give you an intervention, you listen," K chuckled.

Tony glared K's way and shook his head. "No issue," he said Noh-Varr's way. "Just wanted to extend the hand of friendship, let you know if you ever want to check out the Avengers…"

"They are different from the X-Men?" Noh-Varr tipped his head to the side. "Different jurisdictions?"

"You could say that," Tony said.

Noh nodded slowly. "Then if you need my help, you need only ask for it." He gestured to where K still had a hold of Tony. "K trusts you, and that means something to me."

K turned Tony's way with a smug look and covered his hand with her free hand. "So, when are you going to invite Noh and a friend to Stark Tower?"

"Hey, whenever you've got a free day, let me know," Tony said with a grin. "I'd love to get some interstellar input on my latest projects."

Noh-Varr tipped his head to the side. "I would be interested to see what you have," he said. "But… I will not help you with your technology. Only with your mission."

"Can't we do both?" Tony asked, sounding honestly disappointed.

Noh-Varr leaned forward with a little smirk. "You do not share your armor with the general population for a reason. I will not share technology that your world is not ready for — for the same reason."

K gave Tony's hand a little squeeze as a gentle reminder to simply accept it with some grace. Tony let out a disappointed sigh, but he wasn't about to push when the threat of a broken hand was imminent. "Maybe you'll change your mind after you see my tech."

"I doubt it," Noh-Varr said with a smile.

K ran her teeth over her bottom lip and met Noh's gaze before she dropped her voice below a whisper. "Please be kind. In this case, he made sure your ship wasn't scavenged before we arrived — as it would have been by that gold-laden creep. And in his defense, for as far advanced as he's always been, not once has he abused that edge over the rest of the world."

Noh watched her for a moment before he nodded quietly and looked back to Tony. "But I will be interested to see what advances you have made."

Tony shot a look K's way for a moment before he grinned and nodded. "So, let's say Wednesday?" he said.

"Friday would be better," K replied without looking his way.

"Great. I'll have Pepper put you on the schedule," Tony said as he got to his feet. "Oh, and hey, congrats on learning English."

"It really wasn't too difficult," Noh-Var said with a little smile. "But it is nice to be able to communicate here."

"I'll bet," Tony agreed.

"Thank you, Tony," K said, getting up to join the two of them. "I'll see you out." She took his arm and gave Noh a wink, though she clearly let Tony lead out.

Once they were out in the hall, Tony was already shaking his head. "Not even here for a few days and you've already got him dyed in the wool in your X-Men creedo."

"Our uniforms are cuter," K defended.

"I beg to differ," Tony said with a smirk. "I'm the cutest."

"How could anyone tell under all that bulky armor?" she argued.

"That's how cute I am — I make even that work," he laughed.

"Maybe I should take the same outlook."

"Oh please no," he laughed.

"But it would ease up your autopilot if you were paying better attention to your job."

"But it wouldn't be as fun," Tony countered.

"See, but you're making me rethink my uniform choices," she said, shaking her head. "Like the tight stretchy look is not right."

"Well, now I feel like I've completely screwed myself. And that is saying something." He grinned her way as they got to the door. "See you Friday."

"Try to behave," she told him.

He just grinned at her, walking backwards out the door. "Come on, K. Have you ever known me to be anything but my best?"

"Frequently," she replied, to which he laughed and shook his head before he headed off.

* * *

Noh-Varr was in a good mood when he got to Charles' office after spending the day with K at Stark Industries. It had been actually more interesting than he'd thought it would be, and not just because of the technology. K and Tony had a strange way of speaking that didn't seem to actually follow any of the dictionary meanings of words. At all.

"I take it the field trip went well," Charles said with a smile.

Noh-Varr nodded happily as he sat down across from Charles. "Tony Stark is very close to a breakthrough on so many fronts — he simply needs a little push here and there, some simple interdimensional theories…. It's fascinating."

"I'm sure he was glad to hear it."

He nodded. "I was more interested in K and Tony Stark's relationship," he admitted. "They speak English, but the words seem to have a different meaning to them than what they should mean." He smiled. "We have double-meanings and innuendo in my language too, but I don't know enough about your culture to catch it all yet."

"I would suggest starting somewhere other than the two of them," Charles said with a little smile that he couldn't quite help.

Noh-Varr simply smiled and nodded. "And it was interesting to hear about the Avengers, though I admit, I'm still not sure of the difference between the teams beyond the fact that yours is composed entirely of the genetically advanced."

Charles tipped his head slightly as he considered the question before he said simply, "We have different focuses."

Noh-Varr nodded thoughtfully, then paused for a long moment. "I know from seeing your team at work that you believe in peace, but while I was in New York, I saw your team called terrorists. But they celebrate the Avengers, who are your allies in the fight. I don't understand that." He paused again, and Charles waited for him to form the words. "I cannot support an organization that promotes terror… but everything I know says that is not the case with the X-Men."

Charles let out a weary sigh. "The X-Men are not terrorists," Charles told him gently. "But we are all mutants, and that carries with it fear. It's not something that we can control — but it is something we've been working to gently teach to those that fear us."

"Thus the rule Scott told me about," Noh-Varr said. "Of non-lethal strategies."

"Yes, X-Men do not kill," Charles replied. "Even if those that fear us do not hold that same value."

"It seems… counterproductive," Noh-Varr said. "I am sure you know — it would be far simpler to overpower them."

"Which would completely destroy the hope for coexistence."

"I suppose," he said, his arms crossed and a frown on his face. "But it has been my experience that it's simpler to coexist with others when they are part of the whole."

"I'm sure it was much easier," Charles said, nodding. "But our world is one of free will. We must hope to turn their hearts and educate their minds."

Noh's lips twitched into a smirk. "Jean talks about free will often. You put it before your other morals and set it far too high, in my estimation."

"Likely because it's not a natural concept to you," Charles said. "But a shared mind is not natural to us, so I'm sure it's simply part of the culture shock."

Noh nodded. "It must be," he said, then shifted to sit up a little straighter. "This is your world, and I will honor your rules. I will not kill anyone, but I will continue to believe it is the least efficient way to deal with the violence and self-destruction of your enemies."

Charles gave him a soft smile. "If ever you find yourself in need to express your frustration, I'm sure K or Logan would be happy to hear you on that front."

"Perhaps I will," he agreed. "They have both let me run through Danger Room simulations my way. It's a good way to stretch." He leaned back a bit. "I want to help your team. I want to join your fight. I just have much work to do first — with this and with that rule, it seems." He let out a breath and then tipped his head to the side. "We are not making much progress in my mind," he said after a moment. "I'm not accustomed to being patient."

"Few are," Charles told him.

"I cannot help this world if I'm stuck in my own mind," he said, almost pouting.

"Then let's start working, shall we?" Charles replied with a smile.

Noh smiled at that and nodded as he let Charles lead him back to mindscape that they had visited so often. Because it was such an everyday thing, it would have been easy to miss the slight changes, but there was almost a yellowish tint to some of the buildings, rather than a white one — and one building that was a very light shade of pink. Neither of which escaped Charles' notice.

"There hasn't been much progress here," Noh said in a frustrated tone when they got to the hole in the center of the city. "At this rate, it will be years before the building is returned to its original splendor."

"Perhaps you can rebuild it to even greater magnificence," Charles suggested.

"That may take longer," he said with a sigh. "No… I just want to get back what strength I can here and move forward. I cannot do what I'm meant to if I spend all my time here." He paced the outside of the hole for a long moment before he paused and looked back toward Charles and then to one of the streets nearby. "Wait. That was not there before."

Charles nodded encouragingly and followed the young man down the new street in his mindscape — which was already different enough just from the fact that it wound around a corner and into an outcropping of a building. Unlike the rest of his mind, which by design led to the central point where the Supreme Intelligence was housed, this road seemed to be natural, like those paved over old footpaths.

Noh stopped in the doorway and let out a little laugh when he realized where they were. "This is the music store," he said, looking through the rows of CDs with a little smile. "I should have realized." He shook his head and turned back to Charles. "But why is it here and not filling the gap in my mind?"

"Perhaps it is," Charles said. "The gap is less deep than it was when we started. But it is my theory that the gap exists where your purpose and drive is. If you were to decide to pursue music as more than an interest, I'm sure you would see it there too."

Noh-Varr nodded thoughtfully. "But I have a mission now — shouldn't it be filled?" he pointed out. "Even if the connection to this reality's Supreme Intelligence is not as complete, I have an assignment."

"You do, but isn't part of that assignment to protect this planet?"

"Yes," he said. "So… perhaps I need to actually act on it to make any progress here?"

"That may help, though I still would like to see you make more progress in your defenses. Even with the hole to fill, your defense should be stronger."

Noh-Varr let out a sigh. "I cannot fill the hole without acting, and I cannot act without defenses, and my defenses are more difficult to raise because of the hole." He shook his head. "This seems almost more trouble that it is worth."

"Perhaps a bit of fun would help you," Charles offered. "It's entirely possible that you need the mental recharge between sessions. Do you usually feel better after one of the more interesting classes? Or going out to see how our world operates day to day?"

Noh grinned. "When I find new music — and new dances — there is nothing like that," he said. "And Jubilee has been introducing me to a  _terribly_ inaccurate show called  _Star Trek_."

Charles smiled. "Yes, well, it's entertaining."

"You have such a focus on pleasure on your world," Noh said. "Entertainment for its own sake… activities that have no reason other than 'just to do it'." He smiled. "It's interesting, and hard to get used to. But I think it's enjoyable."

"Just be careful who it is you model your Earth experience off of."

Noh-Varr smiled his way. "I think Jubilee has been a wonderful guide."

"She has a particular love of life," Charles agreed.

"Then that is the right person to follow," Noh-Varr said. "Your world is so focused on enjoying the moment. If she is so adept at it, then that's what I need to learn, yes?"

"It is," Charles said, "the best way to learn how to make your most out of your time here, I'm certain."

"And I trust her," Noh-Varr added. "It would be hard to do this with someone whose motives I questioned, but she is open about everything. I miss that."

"I sincerely hope you find more than just Jubilation being open and honest," Charles said.

Noh-Varr tipped his head Charles' way. "Honest… I believe most of you are honest. Open ... that is another story. Very few people are open — at least as open as I'm used to. Your minds are closed, and you say so little."

"I'm afraid that's a bit of a self-defense mechanism — and one that all of us use likely far too often."

"Yes, defense of closed minds. I'm still getting used to it," Noh-Varr nodded. He gestured around the mindscape. "As you can see."

Charles smiled at him warmly. "I'm certain that you will learn."

"Yes," Noh said, smiling despite himself. "I think I can do that much, at least."


	9. You Can Hear Jean Chanting 'Now Kiss' Can't You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Noh's mindscape is changing and Jean is FLYING THE JUBINOH FLAG SO PROUDLY.

 

* * *

 

The leaves were starting to turn in Westchester — which seemed to fascinate Noh all over again — but it was the promise of a bonfire to celebrate the equinox that brought him and Jubilee out into the forest to walk around a bit, hand-in-hand as always.

Noh was wearing his headphones around his neck as he kept pace with Jubilee on her wheelies down the path until they got into the more uneven ground and she had to slow down again. There was music down at the bonfire, and he was humming along to it even for as far out as they were.

They were almost caught up to the rest of the group when the sun started to set, and Noh pulled on Jubilee's hand a bit to stop her with a little grin. "Look at that," he said, gesturing to the sky. "The orange is the exact same shade as the leaves. It wasn't that way yesterday."

Jubilee grinned as she came to a stop and looked up at the sky with him. "Yeah, well, like I said, they're different every night."

"I prefer them when they are pink," he said, grinning her way. "Your whole world is green and blue — but at special times, it is pinks and oranges and yellows."

She turned to face him and couldn't help but giggle when she realized he was being totally serious. "Well, it takes work to look this fabulous."

He grinned wider at her and nodded. "Yes, you have to go to all those stores and try on clothes," he agreed with an almost teasing smile.

"It's just too bad you showed up so late in the year. Totally missed bathing suit season. And the fine art of tanning."

"That does sound interesting," he agreed, nodding along as they made their way to where the bonfire was already burning high and any of the X-Men and students that had significant others were already snuggled up.

Noh-Varr tipped his head toward where Ororo was sitting with Forge, perfectly and contentedly curled up. "So this is an excuse for couples?" he asked with a little smile.

"Like they need an excuse," Jubilee muttered quietly.

"Well, the rest of us can simply enjoy the music," Noh decided, offering Jubilee his other hand. "Let's dance." With that, he simply pulled her into a dance in the smoke and embers and the light of the fire, since the song was one that leant itself to one of the dances they'd learned in K's class.

There was a little  _bamf_ close by, and Kurt appeared, grinning, nearby. "I see you've been paying close attention to K," he said with an impish little smirk.

Jubilee glared at him for a second, though Noh seemed to miss the point and grinned Kurt's way. "She is an amazing teacher," he said earnestly.

"Yes, she is," Kurt said, the grin widening even more. "And our Jubilation has learned from her  _very_ well."

Jubilee stuck her tongue out at him. "Jealous?"

"Never," he laughed. "Everyone else is jealous of me, of course."

She rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous."

"Hardly," he answered. "I'm simply observant."

"Go observe somewhere else," she said, waving her hand.

Kurt simply smirked at her and teleported off, though he appeared a moment later with Storm so that the two of them could pull off a magnificent dance — clearly showing off and grinning at the two teenagers.

"That isn't a dance we've learned yet," Noh said, watching the elegant waltz with an interested look on his face.

"That's because no one's picked the right music for that yet," Jubilee told him.

"Then I'll have to pick a song to learn it when it's my turn," he decided. "Though… I was considering the Ronettes for that as well."

"Well, stick around — you can do both," Jubilee pointed out.

He couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, I'm going to stay here for the foreseeable future," he said. "How else to protect the world than with those who have sworn to do it?"

"That… is a good point."

He grinned at her and turned back to watch Kurt and Ororo before he nodded. "I think… I can replicate a simple version of that. It's in threes…."

"I'll follow you," she said.

He grinned and then pulled her into what was a close approximation of a basic waltz step as they danced some more — and then got to dig into the snacks and just hang out with the rest of the kids when they were done dancing.

"Jubilee, can I ask you something?"

Jubilee shrugged up at Noh as she took a big bite out of her caramel apple. "Sure."

Noh gestured over to Monet and Everett. "If you are on the same team, why do you and Monet… she doesn't seem to like you."

"Well that's because she has  _terrible_ taste and she's totally jealous of not being on the team longest … out of our age group, of course."

"Then she is going to be upset for a long time, since you do not have time travel here," Noh pointed out.

"Pretty much."

Noh shook his head. "I suppose she will have to learn that before she can join the senior team."

"She's gonna have to learn a lot," Jubilee said heavily.

"Then, as the leader, should you not be helping her?" Noh asked, genuinely curious.

"If she'd listen at all? To anyone but the teachers?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Gotta be open to it."

"You are a lot more understanding of insubordination than I would be."

Jubilee very carefully avoided laughing outright, though she couldn't stop the smile. "Well … we're not very well structured in that way."

He smiled at her. "There is very little on your world that is structure," he said.

"Yeah, well. Most of the time, it's more interesting that way."

"I'm certainly learning the appeal," he agreed. By that time, a few of the others were splitting off from the group, and he tipped his head toward the forest. "Shall we go back, or did you want to spend more time in the firelight?"

"Actually, I think I might want to go down by the lake," she said slowly.

He grinned and got up to offer her his hand. "Then let me accompany you," he said. He let Jubilee lead the way out to the lake, which was quiet and still — so no one else had the same idea… yet.

Noh had gone back to wearing the headphones around his neck, but this time they were playing music lightly, and he was bopping his head slightly along to the music now that the bonfire was breaking up. "We should go to the mall again," he said.

"Sounds good to me," Jubilee replied quietly, pulling her shoulders up to her ears.

"Maybe we can explore some of the other stores," he said. "There was an entire store dedicated to candy — and I know you have a particular interest in that."

"I do," she said, smiling a little wider. "We're pretty sure they help charge up my sparkles."

"That would be sensible," he said with a nod. "I can do the same thing… but not just with candy. Anything organic, and I can use it to heal."

She frowned and looked up at him dramatically, letting her short bob shift with the speed. "Anything organic? That's …  _why_?"

"Because I was engineered to survive and fight," he said with a shrug. "Not every battle has candy in it," he added, this time with a little smile her way.

"Well, it should," she said, hugging herself a little bit.

"If every battle had Pixie Sticks in it, you would have so much the advantage," he teased.

She couldn't help but smile a little at that. "Well that would be nice for a change," she said before she looked up at him, bit her lip, and very quickly gave him a little kiss.

He looked surprised for only a moment before he grinned widely and kissed her right back, though not quite so fast. He grinned at her again when they broke apart and then, to her surprise, started to very quietly sing one of his new favorite songs. "My thoughts are with you, holding hands with your heart to see you…"

Jubilee just stared at him, totally shocked and turning pink, though she couldn't stop smiling at him. So, she popped up on her toes to kiss him again.

* * *

A few days after the bonfire, Jean sat in on a session with Charles and Noh, curious to see how much progress they had made together. And while the other two had been doing this on a daily basis, Jean definitely had  _not_ been there for the gradual shift of some of the building colors to more yellows and pinks, so it was a lot more obvious to her.

Though more obvious was the fact that the previously pale green sky was now orange and pink, a perpetual sunset over their heads.

She couldn't stop grinning through the whole path down to the center of his mind, which honestly had the best view of the sunset.

She could barely bite back the little giggle that kept threatening to break loose, but she managed to keep her composure as Noh showed her the bare defenses that they were erecting in his mind. For someone who had never in his life closed his mind, it wasn't too bad, though he still had a long way to go.

But for as proud as Noh was of the progress he'd made, Jean was barely able to hold back the far more important matter at hand, only waiting until Noh was out of the room before she projected to Charles — knowing Noh could still hear her if she spoke out loud —  _I love what he's done with the place._

_Yes, much more … colorful._

Jean laughed out loud.  _How long has that been going on?_

_Not long at all. Just the past few sessions, really._

Jean grinned.  _Oh, well, the sunset for sure,_ she said.  _But what about the buildings?_

_That's been I believe … since your night out drinking._

At that, Jean looked even more delighted.  _Charles._ Charles _. This is just…_ She grinned outright.

_Good for both of them._

_Oh, definitely,_ she agreed, grinning even wider.  _We have_ got  _to fix that Supremor problem, because these two? This is too cute._

_Jean … his path is his to choose._

_So we should let him choose it,_ she argued.  _He clearly likes her._

Charles couldn't help but laugh. "Yes. Well … let nature take its course."

"That's what I'm  _saying_." Jean shook her head, still grinning. "I'm not saying push them together; I'm just saying… we should make sure he doesn't get jerked around."

"I know what you're saying," he said, shaking his head. "And I'm sure it will all work out as it should."

"Oh, it will," Jean said, already determined that she would help things along if need be. After all, this was too perfect.


	10. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Magneto comes to visit, and Noh is NOT impressed.

**Notes: Oh yeah. They aren't fooling anyone, and the whole world can see that LOOOOOOVE is in the AIIIIIIR. :D**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Old Friends**

* * *

At the beginning of October, the institute seemed to be suddenly a lot more on edge than it had been before. Charles and Erik were having one of their chess games — in which they would both try to win each other over to their way of thinking. Again. And that meant the whole house was ready for a fight, just in case.

"So, is this part of the peaceful coexistence creed?" Noh-Varr asked Jean, honestly confused as he watched the group of X-Men making preparations. "You invite your enemies to your home?"

"Charles and Erik are old friends," Jean said diplomatically. "They haven't always agreed on the human-mutant relations side of things — but they hold their friendship above even their difference of opinion."

"So it's a matter of loyalty," he said, his head tipped to the side. "And a matter of respecting each other's free will… you  _keep_ putting it above your goals."

"More or less," she said with a nod.

"You are never going to get anywhere this way," he said, which just got a weary sort of look from Jean.

However, for as anxious as everyone seemed to be, Noh-Varr… was not impressed by the man who came to the institute. The tall man was showy with his entrance, a long cape flowing out behind him and a look that screamed that he was unconcerned with anyone else around him. But tactically...

"He does realize that he is only opening himself up to further attacks with something attached to his neck and shoulders, yes?" Noh-Varr whispered to Jean.

"It seems to be a blind spot," Jean replied as seriously as she could, though Scott didn't quite keep the composure as well as she did when she let him in on the conversation and he made a sort of choked sound as he tried not to laugh.

"And he manipulates metal, yes? But not biological components." Noh leaned back and shook his head. "If he is a problem, put him in my ship."

"All kinds of metal, and he doesn't need to be in the direct vicinity of it to use it," Jean clarified. "He could whisk Logan or K here from wherever they are right now if he chose."

"Then why are they here?" he asked. "If he is your enemy and they are so subject to him, why risk them?"

Jean couldn't help but smile. "You know, we have tried that exact argument for years, but they choose to stay anyhow."

"Self-defeating Terrans," Noh muttered, which got a little smirk out of Jean.

Jean was still smirking at Noh as Erik strode past and paused just slightly at the newcomer, smirked, and simply turned to meet Charles.

"You didn't tell me that you found yourself someone interesting, Charles," Erik said as they set up the board.

"I would give Jean the credit in this case," Charles said with a small smirk.

"That would explain only part of why she's so  _invested_ ," he replied.

Charles simply smiled as he made the first move. "Most of the staff here is intrigued by him."

"Hm?" Erik looked up at him for just a moment. "And why is that?"

"Cultural exchange, as it were," Charles said, smirking a bit wider at his own joke.

Erik frowned and sat back in his chair. "It's not like you to be so … evasive."

"It's a hard matter to explain," Charles replied.

"Try me."

Charles shook his head. "He is from a reality entirely different from our own. So much so that we have struggled to teach him even some basic concepts to our way of thinking in  _this_ one."

"Honestly Charles, it's not enough that you've set out to reeducate an entire planet on how to behave — you have to reach out to distant planets, times, and dimensions … no wonder you're at such a premium for free time."

Charles shook his head and couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "You know I don't seek them out — they tend to find me in these cases."

Erik made a face that clearly illustrated how much he didn't believe him. "Oh, certainly. They seek you out from the deepest depths of the cosmos to hear your little  _dream._ "

Charles looked up to meet his gaze. "Maybe that speaks to the strength of my philosophy."

"Or to the wild story that it truly is. How is your old friend  _Lilandra_? I haven't heard much on how that philosophy worked out for her."

Charles' smirk dropped into a frown as he moved a knight. "Not everyone is ready to hear it."

Erik shook his head and moved a bishop before he sat back. "Because it's simply not feasible."

"It will be," Charles said simply. "The more people hear it, and the more it is lived. You know that, old friend."

Erik made a soft noise in the back of his throat but otherwise ignored the commentary as they continued their game.

* * *

While Erik and Charles had their game, though, the Brotherhood was doing their best to look intimidating — and once more, the X-Men's resident alien wasn't impressed in the least. At least Erik had the power to back it up, but these people…

Jean was trying so hard not to laugh at half of what she was hearing from the teenager as he glared at the group.  _Posturing is a sign of weakness_  was her favorite so far, though  _If you have to try so hard, you know you have no power_ was a close second. And of course, she was sure to send the commentary along to Scott, knowing that he would be just as entertained as she was by the overconfident teenager in their home.

The young man had come to sit in the living room across from the Brotherhood, simply to watch them with narrowed eyes. Though… it was a bit hard for the Brotherhood to take him seriously when he had a bag of Sweet Tarts with him. And that was what the scene was when the chess game was finished and Erik came to gather the Brotherhood.

He paused and slowly took the young man in before he had to speak — and at the least offer him an alternative. "Do you believe in my old friend's  _dream_ of a unified world of mutants and humans, young man?"

Noh looked up at him and nodded once. "Yes, of course. Where I come from, transcendental peace and unity is the norm."

"And you believe that can be achieved while tolerating those that are so obviously genetically inferior?"

Noh-Varr frowned at that. "Your world is only just beginning its genetic advances. This is a time of transition."

"Not if you consider the ages of some of those living here," he replied. "This movement has been going on for over a century. It's only now, in more modern times, that we find so many more of our  _mutated_ brothers and sisters."

Noh-Varr tipped his head to the side. "I believe that genetic advancement is the best way to move civilization forward, that it should be encouraged," he said.

"They by what means would that happen while involving  _homo sapiens_  into our gene pool?"

"You are still in a stage of random mutation," he pointed out. "Where do you think your next generation will come from but them? You do not have the technology to direct it, after all." He straightened up a bit. "I have not met many  _homo sapiens_ here, but I have seen intelligence and evil, seemingly the best and the worst they have to offer. Why not keep the best? That is what we do." He gestured at himself. "I was engineered with the best genes from previous generations as well as other beings. Take the best, destroy the rest."

"If that's indeed what you believe, then I think, my boy, you're in the wrong crowd."

"How so?" Noh-Varr asked, his head tipped to the side. "I am surrounded by the best genetic advances, am I not?"

Erik glanced around the room, met Logan's gaze and sneered. "I'd have to say no."

"You cannot be referring to these posturing imbeciles as alternatives," Noh-Varr said, tipping his head to indicate the Brotherhood.

Logan couldn't help but smirk at that. "He does."

Noh-Varr sneered at Erik. "Then your understanding of genetic advance differs greatly from mine. And mine is far more advanced." He smirked slightly and popped a Sweet Tart in his mouth. "Though admittedly, we did not have candy there. Or music."

Erik frowned and glanced down at the candies, then looked Charles' way with one eyebrow raised. "I had no idea you were stooping so  _low_ to keep your enrollment."

But all that really did was get Logan growling low — enough so that those in the Brotherhood all startled at the sudden threat, and Erik looked for a moment as though Logan had just proven his point.

Noh-Varr frowned a bit and looked between the men before he made an honest effort to try to step in before things escalated. "I enrolled because I was ordered to protect this world. If that is 'low' in your estimation… then I understand why you settle for empty strength in your lackeys."

"Wasn't an insult to you, Noh," Logan told him, still growling even as he spoke.

Noh raised both eyebrows before he turned a glare Erik's way. "She is not part of my enrollment," he said, his chin thrust out. "Nor my mission. She's been my guide to this world. Do not presume anything you know nothing about."

Erik matched Noh's glare with one of his own before he simply turned on his heel, levitating on the way out the door with the Brotherhood in his wake — and sure to toss Logan back a few steps on his way past.

Noh glared toward the door for a moment before he turned to Logan. "Are you alright?"

"Of course I am," he replied with a frown.

"This is what happens when you remain in the room with a man who manipulates metal."

"He gets nervous enough to admit that he's afraid of me still," Logan replied.

"And had he tossed you into someone who cannot take the impact of your adamantium?" Noh-Varr replied.

"I wouldn't let that happen," Jean said.

Noh-Varr tipped his head toward Jean and then nodded once before he looked toward Logan. "I was not impressed with them either," he said. "They are empty."

"That's because you're not an idiot," Logan rumbled.

Noh-Varr shrugged. "The thought process is sound, but the execution is more important. If that is who he considers worth keeping and yet he dismisses you and Jubilee? He should not be making any decisions on what is superior."

"I couldn't care less what he thinks about me," Logan said before he simply headed out.

Noh turned Jean's way. "I was right," he said.

"About what?" she asked, though she was frowning after Logan's retreating figure.

"I was right when I said Logan should not be dismissed," he said. "My people had to go to great lengths to find healing — and we had to do it artificially. You have a  _natural_ healer in your midst. That is rare. And incredibly superior."

She nodded and frowned on how to explain it. "Erik — and many others — tend to believe that Logan and K both are more animal than human," she said quietly.

"They misunderstand advances then," he said. "

"They do, completely," she agreed.

"Logan and K have enhanced senses… healing… I had to be enhanced with insect DNA and nanites to get such things."

"Which … is exactly why most people after those two want them for weapons."

"They would be excellent for that," Noh-Varr said reasonably.

"And they have been — though the people that used them took total control of them."

He tipped his head to the side. "I thought that was not done on your world."

"It's not typically done here. But as I said … there are some that don't believe the rules apply to them and that those two in particular are actually sub-human and therefore not protected by basic rights."

Noh-Varr shook his head. "That makes no sense. Not scientifically or even logistically."

She let out a sigh. "Noh, do you think that K would have been kind to you if she wasn't thinking for herself?"

"No," he said with a small frown. "I had a gun at her head; she should have taken me down."

"If those people had been in control, she would have," Jean replied. "Or if she thought you were an actual problem — she probably would have simply taken off your arm."

"Then you have destroyed these people. Or at least… you have destroyed their organization and jailed the people, yes?" Noh-Varr surmised. "Since they are so antithetical to your goals and survival."

She tipped her head to the side. "The organization is gone, and … honestly, we more or less let her take her aggressions out on them." She paused. "Before … she attacked Logan and disappeared."

Noh-Varr looked surprised. "But they are married."

"It wasn't an overnight fix, that's for sure."

"And you were able to remove the control these people had over her?" Noh asked, his head tipped to the side.

"Yes," she said, nodding her head.

"Is it a common problem?"

"Thankfully, no."

He nodded and then popped another Sweet Tart in his mouth. "And thus the focus on defense. You must be busy."

"Part of what took so long with her is the fact that part of her mutation is a natural psychic shield," Jean told him as they started down the hall. "Logan too. They're hard to work with unless they let me in."

He gave her a wry smile. "The opposite to me, then."

"Very much so," she agreed.

"Well..." He paused and turned her way. "I cannot see any other way but yours to deal with the realities of your world. I just wanted to thank you for letting me be part of your path — and reassure you that, whatever that man assumed, I am  _not_ staying simply because of Jubilee."

"Jubilee will be happy to know that," she told him.

"Perhaps," he said with a small smile. "Or perhaps she would rather hear that I stay for her. I have heard quite a few songs from your world saying something like that."

"I'm not surprised," Jean said with a little smile. "Most of the best music talks about love."

"It seems to be an obsession," Noh-Varr agreed.

"Well, when you feel it, you'll understand entirely."

"I have," Noh-Varr said. He held his hands out, his smile slipping. "And she died."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said, frowning much deeper than what seemed necessary at the moment.

"She was on the  _Marvel_ ," he explained.

"Oh, that's … that's awful," she almost breathed out.

He let out a breath and nodded softly before he paused and turned her way. "I cannot change it, so I move forward. But yes, I do know what love is."

"Then you know what it's like to be wrapped up in it," she said. "And why we have so many songs about it."

"The real confusion is the fact that there are so many songs about infidelity," Noh admitted.

"It's a real problem," she agreed.

"It's inefficient," he said.

"Well … usually that's a matter of one person in love … and the other just looking for a good time wherever they can find it."

"Then that should be established up front," Noh argued. "There is nothing wrong with looking around, but a commitment means loyalty."

"It does, but not everyone follows through on their commitments."

Noh let out a noise of frustration. "You are all so… contrary."

"Not all of us," Jean replied, pointing his way.

"You are. All of you. In some way or another, you all seem to be going against your best interests," he insisted.

"That depends entirely on what those best interests are — remember, we choose our own."

"Pure chaos," he said, shaking his head. "Fun at times — but chaotic."

She shook her head and pulled his arm for him to follow her down to her office. "I have something for your music collection."

He grinned widely. "Wonderful! What did you have in mind?"

"Just one album," she said before she dug into the bottom drawer of her desk and handed him a CD. "Track Ten."

Noh-Varr grinned down at the Bon Jovi album in his hand before he leaned over to give Jean's arm a squeeze. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," she said. "It's a favorite of mine, and I hope you enjoy it."


	11. Obey Orders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the consequences of Noh having a direct line to the Supreme Intelligence become painfully apparent.

 

* * *

Jubilee poked her head into the hangar to see that Noh-Varr was still working on his ship. It looked like it was more or less finished, but he was still stroking it and talking to it — though he stopped what he was doing and rushed over to kiss her when he saw her.

"She's spaceworthy now," he told her proudly when they broke apart. "Maybe I could take you to see my world sometime, since you have been so good to show me yours."

"Maybe," she said, smiling too hard after the kiss and at his enthusiasm to burst his bubble just yet. "We'll have to see how things go."

He nodded. "I don't know if I'll be asked to go back home, you're right," he said. "But we could go into orbit if you like. Just to see the stars. Or perhaps a quick trip around your solar system."

"Um … I'd so totally have to stock up on sugar," Jubilee said. "Every time I've ever gone to space, there's been some … major battle. You know how it is." She waved it off, but it was clear that it was a real concern.

He frowned a bit and leaned in to steal a kiss. "Then you are not doing it right."

"I don't know … we've fought a lot of Skrulls and Brood …"

" _That_ is doing it right," he admitted.

"... started an uprising…. Longstanding record of you know … cosmic troubles."

"Also normal," he said with a smirk. "But it should not be  _every_ time. Sometimes, you need to simply explore."

"That hasn't been much of a priority, really," she admitted.

"Then perhaps… a date to the stars?" he offered. "I do like you… so I should take you to see the things I love too."

"A date?" she asked, honestly surprised that he wasn't in a rush to just get off the planet permanently for how the mess with Magneto had gone.

"That is what you do on your world, right?" he asked, misinterpreting her confusion entirely. "Since you are not assigned to partners, you date?"

"Um … yeah, it is…." She tipped her head at him. "I just thought you'd be planning a big rush outta here and not look back."

"Why in Plex's name would I do that?" he asked, shaking his head. "I told you — I want to help the X-Men, join them if I can."

"And … you want to take  _me_ on a date?"

"That is why I kiss you often, yes," he said with a small smirk.

She smiled at him, blushing just slightly. "Well … what kind of things do you do on dates? I'll be honest … no one here has taken me out anywhere."

"Ah, well… I don't know much either. I thought we might just go … into orbit. Look at the stars… I could show you how to fly the ship if you were interested…."

She smiled a little wider at him. "I think I'd like that a lot."

He grinned and kissed her again, but before they got any more involved, the perimeter alarms went off, and they broke apart. "What is that?" he asked.

"Trouble calling," she replied. "Time to go protect the homefront."

"At last, something fun," he teased before he simply picked her up to run her up to the main floor so they could spill out onto the lawn together. And since Jubilee had never run with him before, that meant she had to hold on tight to his shoulders and neck, so that she was still hanging on when they came to a stop as some of the older X-Men arrived as well.

Logan gave Jubilee a look. "Really."

"Hey, I'm not complaining," she said with a smirk as Noh set her down.

He shook his head and faced forward, already most of the way into a bristled up growl that only came out in full force when he saw that it was the Cuckoos knocking on their door.

Whatever it was they wanted, they weren't wasting time, and they jumped right into the fight, turning a broad psychic attack on the full group. Everyone was hit with a wave of psychic pain — though those with natural shields weren't nearly as badly hit. Some of the others, like Kurt and Kitty, were worse hit, but for the first time, Noh-Varr got a taste of what a psychic attack felt like — one that was much worse than what Jean and Charles had been helping him with. And since it wasn't physical pain, he couldn't reroute it either. He just… went down. Hard.

But Jean simply wasn't having it. She wasn't going to put up with the Cuckoos hurting her friends on the best of days, but on top of everything else, she had gotten honestly attached to their visitor from the stars. And she wasn't about to let all the hard work that she and Charles had put into helping him with his psychic defenses fall apart that easily.

With fire in her gaze, Jean reached out and found the tendrils that led back to the hive mind of the five girls that were mounting the attack. And without really thinking about it, she turned her hands palms out and simply floated up into the air as the fire branched out from her to form the massive fiery phoenix the higher she rose upward.

With her chin tipped up, she calmly looked down her nose at the girls and one by one snuffed out the psychic disturbance they were causing before she put all five of them to sleep and concentrated hard to pull back the fire. She touched the ground, most of the fire gone — though lingering wisps of it danced around her still.

She let out a breath and then turned toward where Noh was still on the ground, almost cowering. "Are you alright, Noh?"

But to her surprise, the boy just pulled away from her, looking up at her with wide eyes. "Do not touch me," he said in a whisper — looking honestly scared of her.

She pulled back and frowned as the fire faded from her eyes. "I won't hurt you."

"No?" He shook his head as he simply scrambled to his feet, still back and away from her.

"Of course not," she said, shaking her head.

"You're the Phoenix," he said.

"I am host," she said. "But I can control it — as you can see."

He didn't look like he believed her in the least, still keeping his distance with wide eyes. "You didn't tell me — this whole time—"

"I didn't realize it would cause you so much trouble."

"You are a destroyer of worlds!" he said, sounding honestly upset. "I am supposed to protect this world — I do not want to protect it  _from you_!"

"Noh, I'm not allowing that to happen," Jean promised. "There are no worlds that I plan to destroy. I can control it, stop it, and keep it from moving on to someone easier to manipulate."

He narrowed his eyes at her for a long moment before he shook his head lightly. "That is not possible."

"In our universe, it's tied to me," Jean explained. "I can control it — and it can't move on."

"It's the truth, Noh," Scott said. "It can't move on from her — it even brought her back to life because it needed her to survive." He shook his head and stood beside Jean with a hand on her arm. "She's got a handle on it. You've had her in your mind; you know she could have turned on any of us for as much power as she has, but you trusted her before now. This shouldn't change anything. She's still  _Jean_."

Noh frowned between the two of them before he took another step back and shook his head. "That may be," he said slowly. "But … I have seen realities ravaged by the Phoenix. Nothing but ashes and death."

"And this will not be one of them," Jean said.

"I hope that is true," he said, still frowning Jean's way. "I trust Jean Gray, not the Phoenix. I don't want to fight you."

"We can take her down if we have to," Logan grumbled. "Rather not — but it can be done."

"You just saw for yourself how much control she has," Scott said with a frown Logan's way. "And you know X-Men don't kill."

Noh frowned between all of them and then let his shoulders drop and finally nodded. "You walk dangerous paths," he said at last before he simply turned inside away from the rest of them.

Jubilee frowned at the closed door for a second before she spun to face Jean with a serious glare. "Nice going!" she shot Jean's way before she went in after Noh — and slammed the door behind her.

Jean looked upset herself at how that had gone down, even though Scott was sure to project to her,  _He'll come around. It's not your fault._

But when Jean looked upset still, K gave Logan a kiss on the cheek and headed for the house, sure to project out for Jean and anyone else that could listen in.  _I'll find him. Logan will deal with Jubilee._

 _Don't let him leave over this,_ Jean projected back to her, the worry and guilt easier to hear in her mental tone — it was clear to see that she thought she had just driven out a friend from their home.

K gave her a reassuring smile.  _And let Jubilee get heartbroken? Come on._

Jean simply shook her head K's way before she took Scott's arm and headed inside. She had already decided that if K couldn't get to Noh in time, she would go to him herself. This was  _not_ what she had wanted… she just wanted to protect her friends and their minds.

Scott covered her hand with his.  _You didn't do anything wrong,_ he assured her.  _Just give him some time to process this. It's a shock to everyone._ He smiled her way.  _Even I had a hard time at first._

Jean huffed and shoved his shoulder affectionately, but she couldn't help but let out her breath and try for a smile as well.  _We'll see_.

* * *

Noh hadn't gotten very far inside the house — though considering how fast he was going, he was still nearly to the hangar, just not quite to his ship — when there was a nearly familiar presence in his mind, and he stopped short, his eyes closed as someone else's words rang in his head.

 _If the Terrans have a way to contain and use the Phoenix Force, then the Kree Empire must use such a resource. Bring the Phoenix host to Hala_ —  _where the controlled Phoenix Force will be used to drive the Shi'ar from our Empire and restore it to its glory. With the Phoenix at the command of the Empire, we will expand to the heights you have seen in your reality, and you will be instrumental in getting us there. You will play a key role in the history of the Kree._

When the message was through, Noh blinked back to reality, but he was left more confused and shaken than before. What were the Shi'ar doing on Hala in the first place? And in what universe were the Kree so weak that they would be overrun like that, that they would turn to the Phoenix Force?

He hadn't moved from where he had stopped in the hallway, one hand on the wall to hold himself up, when there was a muted  _bamf_ announcing the arrival of Kurt and K.

K frowned immediately on seeing the look on his face. "What's wrong?"

He glanced up to meet her gaze and then straightened a bit, trying to look a little less shaken. "I… I should be back on Hala," he said. "Why didn't you tell me the Shi'ar had overrun it?"

"It wasn't my place," she replied. "And you weren't ready to go up against the whole of the Shi'ar forces alone."

"Of course I can," Noh said, looking almost insulted. "I can aid my people…"

"Why did your orders tell you to stay here if they could use your aid?"

He stopped and stared at her for a long moment. "They were waiting for the right moment," he said at last. "And my ship has only just become spaceworthy."

She nodded her head at that. "Interesting timing."

He hedged for a moment and then nodded. "You are here to stop me leaving."

"I'm here to talk to you," she replied. "If I was here to stop you, I wouldn't have spoken to you."

"I have no desire to fight Jean," he said.

"Good," she said with a little smirk. "She doesn't want to fight you either."

He nodded slowly. "Perhaps… I should speak to her."

"You should," she agreed. "But you should take your time getting there."

He frowned but was already turning back the way he'd come. "No, I should talk to her," he said. "Is she still outside?"

K tipped her chin up at him. "Walk with me."

"That isn't an answer to my question."

"Can't always get what you want, my friend. And you are anxious."

"I am," he said. But when K simply crossed her arms, he let out a huff. "I can find her myself," he said before he simply took off to do just that.

"Good luck," K said before she projected out to Jean.  _He's anxious as hell and acting evasive_ —  _and headed your way._

 _Thanks for the heads up. Charles already let me know what's going on,_ Jean replied.  _He got a message from the Kree._

K frowned at that.  _Sounds like I might have to go have a word with a big head._

 _I'll keep you in the loop,_ Jean promised.

And Jean didn't have too long to wait before the obviously nervous young man wound up at her door. "I need to make a request of you," he blurted out, though he didn't look or sound nearly as composed as he usually did.

"I was under the impression that you didn't entirely trust me," Jean replied with one eyebrow raised.

"No, I do not," he admitted. "But I don't have to fully trust you to ask your help."

"My help in what, exactly?" Jean asked, arms crossed as she watched — and scanned him carefully, curious to see what  _he_ thought of the orders and not just what the Supreme Intelligence had told him. It was encouraging to see that he didn't exactly agree with the orders, but at the same time, it seemed like he simply didn't know how to say 'no'.

"Hala is overrun by Shi'ar," he said, completely unaware of her scan for the moment. "And if you can control the Phoenix, then you can use its power to save Hala."

"You are inviting me to your planet ... after just outlining what happens in your recollection to planets that the Phoenix visits …" Jean raised both eyebrows at him. She didn't push — she wanted him to see for himself how insane the idea was.

"It is not my idea," he said quietly, his gaze on the floor.

"Do you agree with the order?" she prompted. "Since I am sure it's an order or you wouldn't be here now."

"I…" He took a deep breath. "I'm not sure. I must not have all the information I need to understand it. I did not even know you were the Phoenix host — or that Hala was overrun."

"Hala has been overrun for some time," she told him. "And I've been the host of the Phoenix since I was a teenager. What do you need to know?"

Noh thought over his answer for a long time. "If you have control, could you save Hala?" he asked at last, finally looked up to meet her gaze.

"I could," she replied in a metered tone.

"Then will you come with me?" he asked.

"I could get there much faster on my own," Jean replied.

Noh frowned at that. "I was told to bring you," he said slowly. "And… I do not think you should go alone."

"I wasn't planning on going alone," she admitted.

"Then we can go to Hala," he said. He paused. "I still… do not trust the Phoenix. And I want to be sure it is safe on Hala."

"I'll bring my own people," Jean told him. "And if harm comes to them by any Kree — you'll pay."

He blinked at her in surprise. "I don't know what the Kree will do to outsiders you bring. I cannot guarantee anything. I have no influence there."

"They'll listen or they can deal with the Shi'ar themselves."

"I need to come with you," he insisted.

"So you can see what they are, of course." Jean gave him as kind of a smile as she was able while weighing it all out. "These Kree are not the same as the ones you are accustomed to."

"If they were, they would not be overrun," he pointed out.

"Exactly," she agreed. "But it goes deeper than that."

"Then I will meet them when we arrive," he said. "And… thank you. I did not want to fight you."

"You can get Kurt and K for me," Jean said.

"And bring them here?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"They're coming with," Jean said.

"Then… I will see you at the hangar," he said, letting his shoulders drop a bit in relief more than anything. It was clear to Jean at least that he had not been thrilled about the idea of fighting the Phoenix on his own.

Noh rushed down the hallway at a jog to go find Kurt and K, though the first person he ran into was neither of them — but Jubilee instead. He paused, then decided that it was not such a pressing mission that he couldn't take a moment to say hello to her at least. After all, he was still half holding out hope that the Kree would come to their senses.

He zipped over to kiss Jubilee's cheek. "I'm going to Hala," he told her.

"Somehow I'm not surprised," she said dully.

"There is a war there."

"Right. Well. Good luck I guess. Nice meeting you."

He frowned at her for a moment before he shook his head. "Would you come to Hala when the war is over?"

"I was there once before … wasn't a great place."

"Maybe I can show you the best it has to offer. If it's anything like my home…"

"It's not," she said, shaking her head. "Broken buildings, filthy streets, homeless and injured in the alleys. No thanks."

He stared at her in shock for a long moment. "No one told me."

"Probably because you were in such a rush to go see for yourself. Nothing like seeing to believe it."

He closed his eyes and looked honestly sad for a long moment. "This is nothing like my home," he said at last.

"I know. Sorry it's such a disappointment." She turned to leave, though she had no bounce to her step.

Noh frowned deeper and then rushed forward to grab her hand. " _You_  are not a disappointment," he said. "I'm only disappointed I have to leave — and I hope I get reassigned to Earth again."

"Well. Good luck with that too."

He frowned and ducked his head down to kiss her cheek again. "I'm sorry you will not come to Hala," he said quietly before he kissed her fully and then rushed off to his ship.

When he got to the hangar, K and Kurt were at the bottom of the steps for the blackbird, arms crossed and chatting with Logan — who did not look entirely thrilled either.

"Are you coming too?" Noh asked.

"No," Logan said with a distinct glare.

"Oh." Noh frowned between them. "Are we going in your craft, then?"

"Better that way for everyone involved," Scott said as he and Jean hit the hangar. "I'm more interested in getting us all home when this is over." He frowned Noh's way for just a moment before he walked past the young man and climbed into the blackbird.

K took a moment to give Logan a kiss and whisper something quietly to him before she and Kurt headed up the stairs. And Noh took up the rear, climbing in as Scott prepped for takeoff and simply frowning around at the group. This was definitely not what he had anticipated, and it didn't exactly feel like he was  _taking_ the Phoenix anywhere. At all.

Jean took up the co-pilot chair, and Kurt sat with K — their heads together as they conversed in German. Which simply left Noh to his own thoughts — which was not entirely reassuring. He still wasn't sure the idea of bringing the  _Phoenix_ to Hala was anything less than desperate, but then, if things were as bad on Hala as the others said, perhaps that what it was ... desperation.

And the more Noh thought about it, the more he wanted to go back to Earth, even if they had barely left the atmosphere. He had liked the team there, even if he still didn't fully understand their goals. Their overarching dream was sound, and they were genuinely trustworthy — and Jubilee was there. They had music, and candies, and entire stores dedicated to chocolate.

But… Hala was  _overrun_. And he was Kree. And Kree were supreme. They took care of their own.

It was like that for the duration of the flight as Noh sat more or less by himself. He felt  _horrible_ leaving Earth when he was just coming to make friends and to start dating Jubilee. And he definitely hated being asked to bring one of his new friends to Hala for their use when he knew that free will was so important to them. If it had been another Kree… he would not feel like this, he was sure.

But this was the whole  _point_ of his creation. And the only reason he was questioning his orders was because he had been so separated from Hala ... so there was a small part of him that was  _sure_ it would all make sense once he got to his home world and it was free of Shi'ar.

It had to.


	12. Burn Out the Corruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the X-Men and the Phoenix go to Hala and it is not great for Noh.

 

* * *

When they got to Hala some time later, Noh-Varr was understandably shocked when he saw what had happened to his world. It was just like Jubilee had described, with buildings in ruin and the streets a mess and Shi'ar everywhere — and he couldn't stop staring at it in disbelief. He had always been taught that the Kree were supreme, so  _how_ could this happen?

Sure, he had seen universes where his people didn't rule everything or had been wiped out by the Phoenix, but it had always been an either-or kind of situation. They were either dead or not  _yet_ rulers — but they were always on the right path.

This… this was the despair of a failing kingdom, and he hated it.

"Nobody told me about any of this," he said very quietly, not really expecting an answer from the others since he had been more or less left to his own thoughts this whole time. It was more that he was just… overwhelmed by how  _far_ the Kree had fallen in this universe, and he couldn't keep it to himself.

"They were never in power like you were used to seeing," Jean told him without turning to look at him. He could see that there was anger there, just boiling beneath the surface, and he couldn't help but lament the loss of their friendship.

If the orders had come from anyone but the Supremor...

Noh frowned for a moment and then looked back out at the destruction. "I have seen Hala ravaged by Phoenix fire in other realities, but this is somehow… sadder," he told her quietly. "A dying world in desperation."

It wasn't any better as the group of them made their way down the streets to where the Supremor was housed, slipping under the radar for the most part — and though Noh wasn't aware of it, the X-Men were keeping an eye on him too. Jean knew what a danger his open mind was — not just to them but to himself — and it was that knowledge that fueled her anger, not necessarily the fact that he had bent to the Supremor's demands. Not when she knew how much he based his entire existence around subservience.

For as overrun as Hala was, the group of X-Men simply weren't going to get into the building without running into a few Shi'ar — and that was the case when two guards patrolling the building spotted the group and recognized the X-Men. "What are the X-Men doing on Hala?" one of them asked.

Noh glared up at the guards and was pulling back, ready to simply kill the two guards — they were on Hala now, after all, so these were  _his_ rules, not the X-Men's — but Jean reached out to stop him, projecting out,  _Don't engage,_ an instant before both of the guards simply dropped from a telepathic assault.

He spun to face her with an obvious frown, his eyes narrowed.  _Even here you insist on not killing? This is_ my  _world, even if it is so different._

_We're not going to give away the fact that we're here._

He let out a breath and shook his head, sure that this was just another way to explain away the non-lethal rule, since on a planet full of Kree, surely a dead Shi'ar or two wasn't that much of a giveaway. The Kree  _he_ knew would be killing them often. And well.

He was still shaking his head to himself as the group of them entered the building when another message came through to his mind, once more stopping him in his tracks.

 _The X-Men cannot be trusted not to side with the Shi'ar. They are sympathetic to enemies of the Kree Empire, enough to ally with the Shi'ar and embrace their technology. You have been lied to, Noh-Varr_ —  _Charles Xavier was consort to the empress herself. For this reason, they cannot be trusted and must be subdued. Kree Accusers are coming to your position, and you will aid them in subduing the X-Men._

Noh froze, still wide-eyed even long after the message had been relayed — and it was clear the rest of the group at least knew he had gotten a message by the fact that they had stopped with him.

He didn't know what to think of the order. He had seen himself that the X-Men trained in their Danger Room to take down Shi'ar, and K had assured him they had fought the Shi'ar — there was no mistaking the nonverbal sign she'd given him even before they could communicate properly. And Charles… Charles had been with him every single day. Noh trusted him almost as much as he trusted Jubilee.

But to hear that he was consort of a Shi'ar empress…

There was no reason to believe the Supremor was lying. The Supreme Intelligence  _wouldn't_ lie.

But it had to be mistaken in its conclusions.

 _They came of their own free will,_ Noh argued at long last.  _That means more than I can articulate, because I don't quite understand it._

_They came to see the weakness of Hala. They brought more members than you were ordered to bring, reinforcements for their aims. You have brought enemies of the Empire to the homeworld itself and have endangered the plans of the Supreme Intelligence._

Noh stood up a bit straighter at the dressing down, his frown deepening.  _No. I trust them. If they were enemies of the Kree, I would know by now._ He shook his head.  _We are the superior species. It is our job to nurture their potential._

_To our advantage._

_Exactly!_ Noh bit his lip, outright nervous, since he'd never argued with the Supreme Intelligence before. Plex, sure, but the Supremor?  _I brought them here, like you asked. But they came of their own free will, and they should remain so._

 _Individual agency is irrelevant to the goals of the Empire,_ came the response at the same moment a pair of Kree Accusers arrived — and with that, rather than argue with Noh any longer, the Supremor simply filled the young man's mind with the directive to capture the X-Men by any means. It didn't give him a choice in the matter, shoving what was Noh's conscious mind into the little music shop in his mindscape and taking over the rest.

In an instant, Noh had rushed forward and simply sent K sprawling with a fast, hard hit right to the chest that was enough to shatter her heart on the impact almost before the X-Men could even blink. The Accusers rushed into the fight as well — but for Noh, that was as far as he got before Kurt teleported right to him to wrap him up from behind.

Noh bent over nearly in half trying to get Kurt off of him, but Kurt simply knocked him out with a hit to the back of the head, dropping him where he was, before he looked over to K with an expression of pure fury that was almost audible — though clearly not as loud as Scott swearing.

The fight was over faster than the Kree had probably expected when Scott simply blasted the Accusers through three walls before he replaced the visor and knelt down by K to check for a pulse, still looking furious. "Jean…" he said slowly and didn't even need to finish the sentence for her to know what he was thinking.

_Yeah, I know. I'm with you._

Scott was getting to his feet when Kurt teleported back to the group, adamantium cuffs in hand that they had 'liberated' from their raid on the Weapon X program. He simply pulled Noh's hands — and feet — behind him to make sure the young man couldn't do anything. And when Noh did start to stir, that meant the first thing he saw was K, and the expression on his face alone made clear to the rest of the group how much he was outright devastated. He felt he had been betrayed — not even in his universe had he been  _forced_ into service for the Empire. He had always served willingly, and this was like a slap in the face after everything he'd done.

"Let's pay the Supremor a visit," Scott said to Jean.

Jean's hands went out from her sides and she levitated up, the flames dancing around her as the she and Scott headed toward the Supremor. The two of them led the way, and any resistance that met them was simply tossed to the side.

" _Your threat is irrelevant,_ " the Supremor said as they arrived, the words audible as well as echoing in their minds. " _At this very moment, Accusers surround your remaining teammate and will kill him if you continue your aggression."_

"What do you want?" Jean asked, floating slightly higher than she had been as the flames started to take an actual shape.

" _You will burn the Shi'ar from this planet and further the goals of the Empire."_

"I will burn the  _corruption_ from this planet," Jean replied as her voice took on a more sinister tone, and the Phoenix's presence was allowed to show through.

Scott smirked up at Jean for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, me too," he said before he turned toward the Supremor and simply let the Supreme Intelligence have it — the full blast with no visor on — simply creaming the large almost-creature.

The fires of the Phoenix rose upward, and the cosmic power's scream echoed the streets of Hala as Jean rose up higher until she was barely visible to the naked eye — only the fiery form of the Phoenix easy to see in the otherwise dark sky. Another screech seemed to echo the city and the minds of all of those that occupied Hala moments before Jean started her dive with fiery wings outstretched and burning through everything in her path that she found to be corrupt.

The destruction was visible even from where the rest of the team was, and Noh looked on with his eyes wide and that same look of devastation on his face before he simply closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the ground, unwilling to watch his planet be destroyed. He was sure that's what was happening, after all. He'd brought the Phoenix to Hala, and this was the result.

Kurt turned as the Accusers around them watched the destruction, clearly shaken and pale. And while they were distracted, a low, rumbling growl cut through the immediate area. Kurt was not entirely surprised to see K finally getting her bearings about her; she was not at all pleased at the manner in which she woke up, obviously ready to fight, and he realized quickly that she was not going to listen to any kind of reason. "It's time for us to go," Kurt told Noh before he took a hold of the young man and simply teleported away just as K launched herself toward the nearest Accuser, snarling loudly, with her claws outstretched.

What Noh didn't get to see was the fact that in her wake, Jean wasn't indiscriminately destroying everyone and everything. The Phoenix flames washed over women and children, leaving them untouched. Innocent Kree were also left alone, but anyone from any species that had been committing atrocities … they all burned and left nothing but ash behind.

From the blackbird, the flames were easy enough to see, and the cries of the Phoenix were inescapable, as were the echoing snarls and screams of those that were falling victim to the X-men still rushing through Hala.

"We did not come here to start a war," Kurt said in an overly stern tone.

Noh didn't raise his gaze at all. "The purpose was only to finish one," he said. He wasn't arguing the point, though his ears were ringing with screams and he had to wonder what the X-Men considered to be war… Still, perhaps Kurt was right — this wasn't war; it was slaughter.

"And that is what they are doing now. Ending the war," Kurt said. "Even if these Kree attacked us."

Once more, Noh simply nodded. "Yes. We did."

Kurt let out a sigh and leaned back in his seat. It was clear to him that Noh was still in too much distress to talk to him just yet. But the others would join them in a matter of time; Jean had already projected as much to him. They just needed to let Jean burn the fires out and let K calm down before it was safe to return to where the Accusers stood. So for the moment, Kurt simply sat with Noh, and the young man seemed content to be still and silent and devastated by everything that had happened — until, finally, it was time.

 _Bring him back,_  Jean projected to both of them.

In an instant, Kurt had teleported them both to where the other three were — where K looked a bit bloodied and Scott had his arm around Jean's waist, but none of them looked overly injured beyond K's torn uniform.

"I'm sorry," Noh told K.

"I don't want to hear it," K growled back, and Noh simply nodded again and went back to staring at the ground. Jean was still floating — though she had Scott at the same level as herself so he could remain close as the remaining Accusers watched warily and many Kree began to gather around them.

"Your planet was corrupted with self-serving, power-hungry monsters that found it fit to enslave you," Jean said — still in that odd, tritone-like voice. "I will not allow injustices such as this to stand. Choose your next leader wisely." For a moment, she met Ronan's gaze and held it until the Accuser barely tipped his head.

 _Saving a planet from itself and an invasion. All in a day's work for you, right, Jean?_ Scott projected to her when it was clear no one below them was going to argue with her in the least.

 _Right, because I did it alone,_  she replied with a little smirk that was apparent even in her mental voice.

 _You'd have gotten to the big head eventually; I was just impatient,_ he replied with a smirk to match hers, and she shook her head at him before she pulled him into a kiss that lasted the whole way through the float back down to ground level.

No one tried to stop the X-Men from going back to the blackbird, though since Noh was still tied, Kurt simply teleported him — and K — back to the jet. The young man simply went back to his silence, his eyes closed and his head down, but Kurt was more concerned with sitting with K, his forehead resting against hers as they went back to speaking in quiet German together.

Scott and Jean still had their arms wrapped around each other when they finally arrived at the blackbird to join the others, and Scott went right to the cockpit to get them  _home_. They were all ready to be done.

It wasn't long into the flight when Kurt shifted just a bit and readjusted how he was sitting. K was asleep with her head on his shoulder — obviously catching up on the healing and more than a little glad to have someone she trusted for a reliable pillow. "Noh, would you please come here?" Kurt requested.

The young man looked surprised to be addressed before he simply scooted over to where Kurt was. "Will she be alright?" he asked, first and foremost, since that was clearly a top concern for him.

"Yes, she'll be fine. It will take a little time, but she'll be fine." Kurt held up the key to the handcuffs. "It's time you got those off. I didn't want you to run away where we couldn't talk to you."

"Where would I go?" Noh asked simply.

Kurt shrugged. "Away from us, needlessly." He leaned Noh's way slightly, though he didn't disturb K. "We still want to be sure that you're alright. Our offer to stay remains."

Noh glanced up to meet Kurt's gaze for a moment before he nodded quietly. "I don't have anywhere else to go," he admitted.

"We would still like for you to choose," Kurt told him. "I know you weren't under your own power when everything started to happen."

"No one on Hala knows that," Noh said quietly. "To their estimation, I brought the Phoenix to Hala."

"I'm not entirely sure that is the case." Kurt smirked. "And if that is what they know, then they may just thank you for it."

"It doesn't matter," Noh said. "They aren't  _my_ Empire." He sounded tired, resigned, almost lifeless — it was obvious that the trip to Hala had dealt him more of a blow than he could quite comprehend. Whether that was the state of Hala and the Kree, the invasion of his mind, or the moments he had spent convinced that the Phoenix was going to destroy everything he knew… it was hard to tell.

"No, they are not the Empire you knew," Kurt agreed. "But … they have a chance now to do things right, and no Shi'ar are there to stop them."

Noh took in a deep breath and then looked up at Kurt at last. "Should I stay with them?" he asked.

"That is entirely up to you," Kurt told him. "Though I hope that you would consider staying with us for a bit longer. You haven't taken your turn in dance class yet."

Noh shook his head lightly but couldn't help smiling. "I wanted to ask for a waltz," he said.

"Then I will help you find the right selection," Kurt offered.

"I would appreciate that," Noh said, though his gaze had drifted to K. "Are you sure... ?"

Kurt smiled as he glanced down at his sleeping friend. "Yes. Very."

Noh nodded slowly. "I think … I don't know what to do. But I prefer to stay with you rather than to stay with a dying Empire."

Kurt nodded again. "You're welcome — you should know that."

Noh was silent for a long time, simply processing everything that had happened — though it was obvious he was struggling to do even that. "The Supremor told me you were allies of the Shi'ar," he said slowly.

Kurt let out a long, slow breath. "Once upon a time, we were … persuaded to cooperate with them, though it was never much more than that, and certainly not a true alliance." He watched Noh carefully. "It was more of a very close friendship between Charles and Lilandra — the Empress at the time. But she was  _not_ like the rest of the Shi'ar. She wanted to employ Charles' theory on peace, but … she was too far ahead of her time, as far as the Shi'ar were concerned."

Noh was quiet for a longer time still before he let out a breath. "What a strange reality," he said at last. "That the Shi'ar embrace a theory of peace more readily than the Kree."

"That was the trouble, of course," Kurt said. "Her brother killed her for her beliefs before they could spread." He smiled sadly at that. "And it was because of how her brother treated the enslaved citizens of Hala."

"I cannot imagine a world where the Shi'ar disagree on how to deal with Kree," he said, shaking his head.

"It was only her, sadly," Kurt told him. "But she'd hoped her position as Empress would make a difference."

"Then I see where she and Charles would find common ground," Noh said with a soft smile. "Hoping for peace in a world filled with violence."

"And … it's Charles' proof that trying to force it will not work," Jean added to the little chat. "Win their hearts first — and their sensibilities will follow."

Noh glanced up at Jean and tipped his head to the side. "You preach nonviolence, but you agreed to come with me and run the Shi'ar out of Hala. Why?"

"Because I know how despicable the Shi'ar are," she replied. "They won't change. And what they were doing on Hala was … unforgivable."

"Then there are exceptions to your rule?" Noh tipped his head a little further. "In the worst of cases, perhaps."

"There are always exceptions," she agreed. "As much as we try not to allow that to happen."

"But I am not an exception," Noh surmised.

"What do you think you did that was so wrong?"

"Attempted murder, for one thing," he pointed out.

Jean stared at him openly for a moment, glanced over to where K was still sleeping, and shook her head. "Are you kidding me? She'll probably use this as a knock on the guys. All that firepower — and she's the biggest threat."

"Well, of course," Noh said as if it was obvious. "Adamantium claws, the ability to heal… besides the Phoenix, that is much harder to stop than anything else your team can do. She can keep going even after she is stopped."

"What happened to her was hard. It was a rough hit. But believe it or not, she's had worse," Jean told him quietly. "The adamantium itself, for instance."

"She wasn't born or engineered with it?"

"No," Jean said. "Neither was Logan."

Noh held her gaze for a moment before he simply sat back and put his head in his hands. "I want to go home," he said softly.

"If there's a way ... and that's really what you want … then we'll help if we can," Jean told him.

"You cannot cross the dimensional barrier," he said.

She smirked at him, and her tone shifted to a teasing one. "Are you doubting me? All this fire — I should be able to do  _something._ "

Noh picked his head up and frowned at her for a moment before he saw her teasing smile and shook his head. "No, I meant ... there is a dimensional barrier around my reality. The Kree there wouldn't let anything pass into it — in that way, they will never risk their power."

She smiled a little more warmly at him. "I was only teasing," she said. "If you can't get back home, then maybe the best we can do is make this dimension as good as we can. I'm sorry it was such a horrible trip for you. But from what I saw in Ronan's mind, he will do his best to follow their ways to the letter."

"That is good to hear," Noh said. "But I think I would rather stay on your world."

"We'd love for you to stay," Jean promised. "All of us."

Noh frowned her way for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure that is true," he said, "but all the same, I plan to prove myself. And… ask you and Charles to secure my mind so this cannot happen." He met her gaze. "This  _should not_ happen again. I am so sorry."

"No, it shouldn't," she said. "But that was a large part of why we were so slow to tell you about Hala. I'm sorry to have withheld information." When Noh still looked down, she let out a breath and tried to reassure him. "You did no lasting damage here — and I can promise you that K took it out on the Kree that were trying to capture her once she was on her feet again."

He nodded and leaned back again. "You knew," he said slowly. "You knew that it was dangerous."

"And I tried to protect you from it, but I couldn't take the choice away from you."

"Again ... free will." He smirked at her for a moment. "I've felt its absence in  _this_ universe, and it's nothing like what I am used to. No wonder you value it."

She gave him a little smile and pointed to a cabinet toward the back of the blackbird. "If you're in need of a little recharge, there's water and food back there." She gave Scott's arm a squeeze as she turned back to the cockpit. "Let's go home."


	13. Noh's Got a Lot of Work to Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Noh has to deal with the grief of losing everything he thought he had.

 

* * *

When the X-Men got back to Westchester, Kurt simply teleported K right to the room she and Logan shared, keeping one hand on her back to keep her steady — even if she was healing perfectly well from Noh's hard hit.

"What the hell happened?" Logan asked when he saw the two of them. "You're not done with the debrief yet, are you?"

"He's just trying to cause trouble," K accused Kurt without looking his way.

"Nonsense," Kurt said, though he was smiling impishly. "I simply wanted you to be safely delivered to your beloved."

"I … can walk just fine, you know," K replied, giving him a warning look.

"Yes,  _now_ ," Kurt said with a smirk before he disappeared in a poof of blue.

K held up both hands quickly. "Not a big deal. Wasn't even down for long. Really. Ask Jean if you don't buy it."

Logan didn't say a word, but he did take her arm and start to head down to the debrief that he  _knew_ had to be setting up to start. There was no way K was going to give him the full story, and there was already enough of a lie in her statement to have him pushing back the growl. "When are you going to quit that crap?" he asked.

She tipped her head as they rushed down the halls. "Well, if I quit, then you wouldn't have anything to do with yourself. And I'd have no way to make sure you weren't losing your touch."

He gave her a hard look for all of a few seconds before he pulled her over for a quick hug and a kiss and then pushed open the door to the War Room, where Scott and Jean were indeed just getting set up to fill Charles in on all that he missed.

* * *

"I am truly sorry that your trip to Hala wasn't what you had hoped for," Charles said. He was seated across from Noh, and even without telepathy, it was clear to see that the young man was far more subdued than he had been since they met him. He had lost all of the spring to his step, and he looked downright disheartened.

Noh nodded slightly. "It was nothing like my home world," he said. "I had hoped it would be home… but I can't stay there now." He glanced up at Charles. "I have been thinking about it ever since we left. Beyond the visceral emotional reaction to the… fallen world I saw there, I don't think I  _should_ be there. I would not trust them with my ship or my knowledge any more than I trust Stark Industries with it. They are… so primitive. In some ways, you are more advanced than they."

"Then that's yet another level of disappointment, isn't it, my poor young friend?"

Noh let out a breath. "If not for the amazing things I've seen, I would think this reality was simply … what is the best analogy… the Bronze Age?"

"I can see that as an apt analogy."

"It doesn't quite fit," Noh admitted. "You have much that I've never seen. Tight harmonies. Hot chocolate. Free will." He shook his head. "I think I like all of those things."

"That is quite the varied cross-section, Noh-Varr."

"Those are the things I like," he said.

"It's not a criticism."

Noh couldn't help but smile up at Charles. "I want to learn more about your world. But I need your help. I'm so  _vulnerable_ in this world. And that is something I have  _never_ been."

"You know that I'll help you," Charles replied. "My offer still stands."

"But I want you to help me not just to defend my mind ... but that building…"

"I don't know that I can do anything about the building," Charles said. "That is a construct of your mind and how you chose to see that which is missing. That is up to you to repair, though I will help in any way I can."

"I just want to be sure no one can control me again," Noh admitted. "I know what the Supremor did. I saw myself fight the X-Men. That is  _not_ how shared minds work."

"I'll do all that I can to protect you from that — and to make it hard for anyone to get in without an open invitation." He leaned forward. "But, Noh ... how are  _you_ handling all of this?"

"How should I be?" Noh asked, sounding almost tired.

"I'm not sure that there is a set reaction one could possibly have, but I would like to know how you feel about it — if you have a means to express it. Of course, I understand if you're reluctant to work with any of us."

Noh considered Charles for a long time. "Charles," he said slowly, "I have lost my whole world. The people I should have had here are corrupt, and I cannot stay with them. And my own creation makes it difficult to  _exist_ in this world. If there is a feeling that encompasses all of that, please, tell me."

"I don't believe that there is," he admitted. "Grief seems too small a word."

"It does," Noh said. He was silent for a long time, the emotion obvious in the set of his shoulders and the way he closed his eyes against it, before considered Charles again. "But I still trust you. The X-Men. If they are alright with working with me, I would stay here. But I don't know what I would do."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Charles tried to assure him with a kind smile. "Now, if you wouldn't mind … I believe we both have a debriefing to attend."

* * *

Jubilee had climbed up to the roof of the institute with her headphones and a pack of gum, which was pretty much the loudest "leave me alone" she could give to everyone at the school. She wasn't in the mood to deal with  _anyone_ , really, and she really had thought she'd effectively tucked herself away.

So it was a surprise in more ways than one when their little visitor from the stars climbed up the building to join her on the roof, sitting down beside her with a small smile and his own headphones hanging around his neck.

"What are you doing here?" Jubilee asked, propping herself up on her elbows.

"The trip to Hala was a short one," he said. "And I wanted to come back here." He smiled at her quietly. "I  _much_ prefer this world to the one I saw there."

She watched him for a long moment. "Okay. Well. Duh, but how long are you here for? Couple weeks?"

He shook his head. "No, I am here for as long as I want to be," he said.

"Ri-i-ight," she said, one eyebrow raised.

"Really," he said, shifting so that he was lying down next to her on one elbow to mirror her body language. "The Phoe- Jean ... she burned the Shi'ar from Hala, and Scott destroyed the Supremor."

"So they ticked her off," Jubilee said with a little nod. "Not real smart."

"Definitely not," Noh said. He shook his head. "I didn't think it was a good idea to bring the Phoenix there, but… I am glad I saw what the Kree are in this universe." His gaze hardened. "I want nothing to do with them."

"Must be worse than I thought if you'd rather slum it."

"No, I chose the superior world," he said, then offered her a smile. "This world has candy and music — and it has you in it."

She tipped her chin up and looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "What are you doing?"

"Talking with you," he said, looking confused.

"No … no, you're trying to get on my good side. Why? What did you do?"

He looked even more confused. "You thought I was picking a bad world, and I told you what I liked about this one."

"But … you liked most of that stuff before anyhow, so … I don't … get it. Unless you're just … looking for the next good thing."

Noh tipped his head to the side as he watched her with a frown. "I am still learning how to choose my own path. I may not know what I am supposed to be doing, but I know what I like." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "What is there to understand?"

"Nothing, I guess," she said quietly.

"Then what's wrong?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it," she said with a little wave before she leaned back to where she'd been before.

"Are you upset because of what I did to K?" he guessed, since it was clear she wasn't happy at all.

She raised one eyebrow much higher at that. "What did you do to K?"

"I stopped her heart," he said. "I was ordered to subdue the X-Men and refused, and the Supremor used me to fight them anyway."

She sat up and pulled her feet underneath herself. "Does Wolvie know?"

"Yes, he was at the briefing. I assumed he had told you, as I understand he has adopted you."

"Um … I haven't seen anyone yet, dude," Jubilee said.

He sat up to meet her gaze and then let out all his breath at once. "Yes. Well. I had been ordered to bring the Phoenix to Hala. Jean destroyed the corruption there, including the Shi'ar — and I defied the Supremor and paid the price." He shook his head. "It was an eventful trip, and I am glad you were not there. If the Supremor had used me to fight you, I could not find it within myself to return to Earth."

For a good, long time, Jubilee stared at him. "How mad is Wolvie?" she asked at last. "Do I need to fix this?"

"Oh, I'm quite certain he hates me," Noh said. "He could not stop growling."

She waved her hand. "That sounds more like he was mad about what happened. If he was mad at  _you,_  you'd know it."

"Jean and Charles both have assured me that they know it was not me who attacked K — but it was," Noh said. "Perhaps I have the wrong understanding of mind shares, but even in a controlled mind, I was still there."

"Were you in control of your actions?"

"No, I was only aware of them."

"Then it wasn't you."

He shrugged but didn't seem entirely convinced all the same. "I can't change it," he said. "I can only ask Jean and Charles to help ensure it never happens again."

She sighed heavily and put her sunglasses on her nose simply so she could look over the top of them to begin with. "Dude. Relax. They'll put up a bunch of psychic defenses with you and show you how to raise and lower walls. No biggie. But you'll have to concentrate."

"That I can do," he said with a smile. "But what about you? You are up here for a reason."

She shrugged again and hugged her knees. "I come up here a lot."

He tipped his head to the side and then leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Can I stay with you?"

"It's a free country."

"Yes, I've noticed," he said with a smile as he settled in next to her and then offered her his hand. But when she paused and didn't immediately take it, he frowned and put his hand back down. "Ah." He took a deep breath and let it out. "I am sorry I left. Maybe one day you will trust me and know that I mean it."

"It's fine," she said quietly. "Everyone leaves sooner or later."

"But I'm back now," he said. "And I have absolutely no plans to be anywhere else. I have no plans whatsoever, in fact. So… you don't need to worry about that. Unless you prefer I stay gone, in which case, I suppose I could speak to Tony Stark about the Avengers?"

"Just … forget it, okay?" she said.

He let out a breath and simply lay down beside her. "I won't," he said as he pulled his headphones over his ears.

* * *

"Are you sure you're comfortable with me joining you?" Jean asked. She was sitting across from Noh in Charles' office, well aware of the fact that the young alien boy had been almost avoiding people as he tried to come to terms with his grief and loneliness. "I know you have concerns still."

Noh nodded Jean's way. "I don't trust the Phoenix, but I trust you," he said. "And I owe you my mind."

"Some people never trust, and I am trying not to presume too much," Jean admitted.

Noh tipped his head to the side. "Yes, but I trust you."

"And I am grateful for that trust," Jean replied before she reached over to take his hand and squeeze it. He simply smiled at her and even looked a bit relieved at the gesture as the two of them joined Charles to delve into his mind.

It had changed significantly already since the last time they visited his mindscape. The most obvious thing was that there was no longer a sunset painted across the skies, but the greysih tint of dusk with the faintest hints of fog rolling in. The colors on the buildings were still the same pinks and yellows, but the general atmosphere had shifted so that it was more muted. It was obvious now, even if it hadn't been before, that Noh was downright depressed.

Jean and Charles shared a glance, and Jean did her level best to try to ignore the obvious change in tone around them as they continued toward the point of Noh's deepest concerns — the gaping chasm in the center of the cityscape.

It was back to the state it had been when they first met him — seemingly bottomless — though Noh actually seemed relieved to see that, since it meant there was nothing there but his own mind. But while Noh was focused on the depth, Jean and Charles had the wherewithal to notice that the edges were no longer jagged, either.

"You've made some progress," Jean said gently.

"Yes, there is nothing filling my mind but myself," Noh said, staring over the edge of the abyss.

"The edges look much cleaner," she said with a little nod.

Noh looked surprised and then looked over to where she was pointing and couldn't help smiling. "That's new," he said.

"Small advances — but dramatic all the same," Charles agreed.

He turned to smile at the two of them. "Then let's continue… Jubilee said you could help me put up walls to keep outside influences away from controlling me."

"That was how it looked in her mind," Jean replied. "Walls."

Noh gestured around himself. "We are surrounded by walls and buildings. It seems pertinent."

"You might just be surprised at how it looks," Charles told him. "But we'll start all the same."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of this volume. Obviously, things will look up for Noh from here... now that he's free to choose his own path!


End file.
